“I Don't Want To Brush My Teeth!” The Case of an 8-Year-Old With Gingival Bleeding

Gingival bleeding is a relatively uncommon chief complaint in the pediatric population. The differential diagnosis is broad, and both the patient's clinical presentation and medical history must be taken into account when formulating a differential diagnosis. The following is a case of a child with trisomy 21 who presented to the emergency department with oral bleeding in the setting of a normal complete blood count and coagulation studies. The patient underwent a workup for coagulopathies, malignancy, and nutritional deficiencies and was found to have vitamin C deficiency, also known as scurvy. This case illustrates a rare cause of gingival bleeding that occurs primarily in developing countries but may also occur in developed countries in children with underlying medical conditions such trisomy 21 or developmental delay.

Source: Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine - March 1, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Saranya Srinivasan Tags: Emergi-Quiz Clinical Puzzlers Source Type: research