Heart Failure
- Most common cause of heart failure in children is congenital heart defects
- Most common complication of heart failure in children is pulmonary hypertension
Symptoms
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Rapid breathing
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Fatigue or general weakness
- Pale or bluish skin color
- Poor appetite or difficulty feeding
- Swelling in the legs, ankles, or feet
- Irritability or fussiness
- Rapid weight gain due to fluid retention
- Sweating, especially while feeding.
It is right-sided heart failure or left-sided heart failure?
- Left-sided: Think symptoms related to the lungs such as dyspnea, cough, orthopnea, and tachypnea.
- Right-sided: Think the Rest of the body such as hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, & lower extremity edema.
Interventions
- Oxygen
- Strict I & O
- Weight diapers for better output measurements
- Elevate HOB to semi-fowler’s
- Administer digoxin. Hold for HR < 90 in infants and < 70 in young children
- Administer diuretics and check potassium
- Administer ACE inhibitors: Monitor for cough, renal dysfunction, and hypotension
- Teach parents CPR
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