Paediatrics Calculators

Assesses neonatal condition at 1 and 5 minutes of life. Guides need for resuscitation.

Estimates weight in children for drug dosing when actual weight unavailable. APLS 2021 formula.

Calculates maintenance IV fluid rate using Holliday-Segar method. Output in ml/hr.

Identifies deteriorating children in hospital using age-appropriate vital sign thresholds.

Classifies croup severity to guide management (dexamethasone, nebulised adrenaline, PICU).

Decision rule for CT head in children with head injury. Minimises radiation exposure. Two algorithms: < 2 years and ≥ 2 years.

WHO/NICE clinical assessment of dehydration severity in children to guide fluid management.

Indicates whether phototherapy or escalation is needed based on gestation and hours of life.

Age-modified GCS for children under 5 years, accounting for developmental verbal and motor responses.

Six-item observational scale to identify seriously ill febrile children aged 3–36 months. Scores ≤10 suggest low risk of serious illness.

Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Head injury. Guides CT head in children ≥ 2 years with minor head injury (GCS 13–15).

Validated 5-item score assessing severity of acute asthma exacerbations in children aged 2–17 years.

Estimates GFR in children and adolescents using serum creatinine and height (bedside Schwartz formula).

Estimates gestational age in newborns based on neuromuscular and physical maturity criteria. New Ballard Score (NBS) validated from 20–44 weeks.

Children's Head injury ALgorithm for the prediction of Important Clinical Events — identifies children requiring CT head after head injury. Any criterion = CT indicated.

Observational pain scale for children aged 1–7 years. Assesses 6 behavioural categories. Score 4–13; higher = more pain.

Triage tool for paediatric trauma patients. Score -6 to +12. PTS ≤8 predicts major injury requiring paediatric trauma centre.

Validated clinical algorithm for risk stratification of febrile infants 1-90 days old to identify those with invasive bacterial infection (IBI). Stratifies into low, intermediate, and high risk groups to guide investigation and management.

Structured observation-based scoring system to identify children at risk of clinical deterioration. Scores behaviour, cardiovascular, and respiratory domains. Triggers escalation based on total score.

Diagnoses Kawasaki disease (KD) using clinical criteria. Classic KD requires fever ≥5 days PLUS ≥4 of 5 principal features. Incomplete KD: fever ≥5 days with <4 features but echocardiographic or laboratory evidence.

Differentiates septic arthritis from transient synovitis in children with acute hip pain. Each predictor increases the probability of septic arthritis multiplicatively.

Identifies children with CSF pleocytosis at low risk of bacterial meningitis who may not require empirical antibiotics. Score ≥2 or any high-risk feature = treat as bacterial.

Identifies febrile infants ≤60 days old at low risk of serious bacterial infection (SBI). All criteria must be met for 'low risk' classification.

Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (BRUE) criteria replace ALTE (apparent life-threatening event). Identifies lower-risk infants who may not need extensive workup.

Samuel's Pediatric Appendicitis Score assesses risk of acute appendicitis in children. More sensitive for paediatric appendicitis than the Alvarado score in children.

Scores severity of acute asthma exacerbation in children aged 1–18 years. Guides treatment decisions and disposition (discharge vs hospital admission).

Non-invasive clinical score for disease activity in paediatric ulcerative colitis. Validated as an alternative to endoscopy in children. Remission: <10. Severe: ≥65.

Predicts mortality in children under 12 years old with end-stage liver disease. Used for liver transplant priority listing (similar to MELD for adults). Higher score = higher mortality risk.

Assesses disease activity in paediatric Crohn's disease. Used in clinical trials and to guide treatment decisions. Remission: <10. Moderate-severe: ≥30.

Measures functional performance in paediatric oncology patients aged 1–16 years. Analogous to the Karnofsky Performance Scale for children. 100 = fully active; 0 = unresponsive.

Age-adjusted Shock Index for paediatric patients. HR/SBP ratio with age-specific thresholds. Predicts need for blood transfusion, massive transfusion, and mortality in paediatric trauma.

Measures severity of hypoxaemic respiratory failure in mechanically ventilated paediatric patients. OI >16 suggests severe respiratory failure; OI >40 indicates potential ECMO candidacy.

New 2024 international paediatric sepsis definition. Scores respiratory, cardiovascular, coagulation, and neurological dysfunction. Replaces SIRS-based paediatric sepsis definitions.

Identifies children who are most likely to benefit from tonsillectomy based on frequency and severity of sore throat episodes. Threshold: ≥7 episodes in 1 year, or ≥5/year for 2 years, or ≥3/year for 3 years.

Behavioural pain assessment tool for children 2 months to 7 years (and non-verbal patients) who cannot self-report pain. Validated for post-operative and procedural pain assessment.

Calculates appropriate uncuffed and cuffed ETT size, and insertion depth for children based on age. Based on validated age-based formulas used in APLS/EPLS guidelines.

Age-adjusted criteria for SIRS, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock in children. Based on International Pediatric Sepsis Consensus Conference (IPSCC) 2005 definitions.

Nursing-administered observational delirium screening tool for children in PICU. Validated for all ages including non-verbal and pre-verbal children. Score >= 9 indicates delirium.

Standardised tool for assessing paediatric mental health presentations in the emergency department. Assesses 7 domains: Home, Education, Activities, Drugs/alcohol, Suicidality, Emotions/Behaviour, Discharge resources.

Validated clinical decision rule to identify children at very low risk of intra-abdominal injury requiring acute intervention following blunt torso trauma, potentially avoiding CT scanning.

Retrospective questionnaire assessing 10 categories of adverse childhood experiences. Higher ACE scores correlate with increased risk of physical and mental health conditions in adulthood. Used in paediatric, family medicine, and public health settings.

Identifies young children (< 3 years) with wheezing who are at high risk of persistent asthma by school age. Validated in the Tucson Childrens Respiratory Study cohort.

Three-item observational pain scale for post-operative pain assessment in children aged 1-7 years. Validated in children unable to self-report pain. Uses facial expression, verbalisation, and body position.

Clinical decision rule for CT head in children with blunt head trauma. Developed at UC Davis to identify children at low risk for traumatic brain injury without CT scanning.

Validated clinical scoring tool for assessing dehydration severity in children with acute diarrhoea. Derived and validated in low-resource settings; simple bedside assessment tool.

Validated 11-item tool for assessing iatrogenic opioid and benzodiazepine withdrawal in critically ill children. Assesses symptoms over the past 12 hours plus a 2-minute observation period.

Revised Schwartz CKiD U25 equation for estimating GFR in children and young adults aged 1-25 years using serum creatinine, cystatin C, BUN, height, and sex. More accurate than the bedside Schwartz equation.

Eight-variable clinical decision instrument to identify paediatric blunt head trauma patients at very low risk of brain injury who do not require CT imaging. Validated in the NEXUS II study.

Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Head Injury (CATCH) rule. Identifies children at risk for brain injury requiring CT head after minor head injury.

Predicts probability of septic arthritis of the hip in children, differentiating from transient synovitis. Used to guide need for emergency surgery.

Measures functional status and activity level in children (ages 1–16). Paediatric equivalent of the Karnofsky Performance Scale. Used in oncology and palliative care.

Assesses asthma exacerbation severity in children aged 2–18 to guide treatment intensity and disposition.

Estimates risk of appendicitis in children aged 3–18 presenting with abdominal pain. Aids in disposition and imaging decisions.

Calculates the Oxygenation Index to quantify the severity of hypoxic respiratory failure in mechanically ventilated paediatric patients. Used to guide ECMO candidacy and PARDS severity classification.

Modified Glasgow Coma Scale for infants and young children (<2 years), with age-appropriate verbal response scoring. Assesses level of consciousness and guides clinical decision-making.

Standardised scoring tool to detect clinical deterioration in hospitalised children. Triggers escalation to senior review or PICU referral.

Calculates initial fluid resuscitation bolus and maintenance fluid rate for children based on weight. Uses Holliday-Segar formula for maintenance and weight-based bolus for resuscitation.

Target INR ranges for anticoagulation in children with mechanical heart valves, based on valve position and type. Guides warfarin management in paediatric cardiology.

Wang clinical severity score for bronchiolitis in infants. Guides clinical decision-making for bronchiolitis management and hospital admission.

American Heart Association (AHA) diagnostic criteria for Kawasaki Disease (KD). Fever ≥5 days PLUS ≥4 principal features required for classic KD. Guides IVIG and aspirin therapy.

Assesses risk of significant hyperbilirubinaemia in newborns using hour-specific total serum bilirubin (TSB) plotted on the Bhutani nomogram. Guides phototherapy and exchange transfusion decisions.

Paediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA). Adapted from adult SOFA; assesses organ dysfunction across 6 systems for paediatric sepsis severity and mortality prediction.

Paediatric version of the Revised Trauma Score for triage and outcome prediction in injured children.

Predicts risk of death in paediatric intensive care. Used for PICU benchmarking and severity assessment.

Scores severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in neonates exposed to opioids in utero. Guides pharmacotherapy initiation.

Estimates total body surface area (TBSA) burned in children using the Lund-Browder chart, which accounts for age-related proportions.

Assesses pubertal development stage in children and adolescents based on physical characteristics.

Assesses growth of preterm infants using corrected gestational age. Identifies SGA (<10th percentile) and LGA (>90th percentile).

Screens for developmental delays in children from birth to 6 years across four domains: personal-social, fine motor, language, gross motor.

Modified GCS adapted for preverbal and young children. Assesses eye, verbal, and motor responses. Score 15 = normal; score <8 = severe impairment, secure airway.

Assesses croup (laryngotracheobronchitis) severity in children. Guides dexamethasone dose, nebulised adrenaline, and hospital admission decisions.

Assesses acute asthma severity in children 2-17 years. Guides salbutamol frequency, ipratropium, IV magnesium, and PICU referral.

Classifies febrile seizures as simple vs complex and stratifies meningitis risk and recurrence. Guides LP decision and anticonvulsant use.

Diagnoses Kawasaki disease using AHA/JCS classic and incomplete criteria. Guides IVIG and aspirin therapy to prevent coronary artery aneurysms.

Classifies paediatric DKA severity per ISPAD 2022 guidelines. Guides IV fluid rate, bicarbonate use, and PICU referral. Cerebral oedema prevention is key.

Six-category risk-adjustment system for in-hospital mortality after congenital cardiac surgery in children (Jenkins 2002). Higher category = higher mortality.

International consensus paediatric sepsis criteria (Schlapbach 2024). Phoenix score sums respiratory, cardiovascular, coagulation, and neurological subscores. Phoenix ≥2 with suspected infection = sepsis; cardiovascular subscore ≥1 = septic shock. Replaces pSOFA in current Surviving Sepsis paediatric guidance.

Simplified second-version paediatric organ dysfunction score (Leteurtre 2013). Range 0–33. Daily mortality predictor on PICU. Drives benchmarking and trial endpoint reporting.

Adaptation of HAQ for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (Singh 1994). 30 items across 8 domains; rates difficulty in past week (0 = without difficulty, 3 = unable). The disability index is the mean of the highest score per domain (0–3). This calculator returns the sum (0–24) — divide by 8 for disability index.