Intracranial Complications of Pediatric Sinusitis

"Headache and fever" is a common presentation to the urgent care and emergency department setting and can have many etiologies. We present a case of a 10-year-old girl who presented with headache and fever and was found to have intracranial extension of sinusitis despite lack of typical sinus or chronic upper respiratory tract infection symptoms. This case illustrates the need in the emergency department or urgent care to keep a broad differential diagnosis for pediatric headache, especially when initial interventions are unsuccessful. We also review the epidemiology of pediatric sinusitis, age at sinus development, and associated intracranial complications.