23rd September 2021

A 2-year-old boy is brought to the ED by his mother, who says that for the past several days she has noticed that his appetite has decreased

A 2-year-old boy is brought to the ED by his mother, who says that for the past several days she has noticed that his appetite has decreased, and that he has been intermittently drawing his legs up to his tummy and seems to be in pain. He has also had one bout of diarrhoea. They live in an old home that is undergoing extensive repairs. Laboratory investigations reveal a whole-blood lead of 3.2 micromoles/L. His haemoglobin is 104 g/L, and his haematocrit is 33%. There is basophilic stippling of RBCs on blood smear.

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