Pediatric ed

BACKGROUND: Opioid overdose was declared a public health emergency in the United States, but much of the focus has been on adults. Child and adolescent exposure and access to unused prescription-opioid medications is a big concern. More research is needed on the trend of pediatric (age 0-17) prescription-opioid overdose emergency department (ED) visits in the United States, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic year. METHODS: This retrospective epidemiological study used the 2008-2020 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample to provide a national estimate of ED visits related to prescription-opioid overdose...

OBJECTIVES: To develop an equation for defining a low skeletal muscle mass (SMM) in children and to investigate risk factors and outcomes associated with low SMM in critically ill pediatric patients. DESIGN: Single-center retrospective pediatric cohorts, 2011-2018. SETTING: Tertiary Emergency and Critical Care Center of Kyushu University Hospital in Japan. PATIENTS: We studied two cohorts of pediatric patients 1-15 years old who underwent abdominal CT at the level of the third lumbar vertebra (L3)...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate differences in care and outcomes for young adults admitted with suicide ideation (SI) or attempt (SA) to medical units of an adult (AH) versus pediatric hospital (PH). METHODS: Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected on patients aged 18 to 25 years admitted to either an AH or PH at an academic health system from September 2017 through June 2023 with a diagnosis of SI or SA. Outcomes measured were discharge location, length of stay (LOS), emergency department (ED) visit or hospital readmission, and inpatient consultations...

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate aspects of pediatric patients presenting to a hospital in Turkey via emergency ambulance services, including incidence of visits to the hospital, acuity of illness and most common diagnoses, during the one-year period before and after the onset of the coronavrrus dsease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This was a retrospective and single center analysis of children, transported by Emergency Medical Services to the Emergency Department (ED) of a children's hospital in Turkey, between 10 March 2019 and 11 March 2021...

OBJECTIVE: Recovery from acute wheeze and asthma attacks should be supported with safety netting, including treatment advice. We evaluated emergency department (ED) discharge practices for acute childhood wheeze/asthma attacks to describe variation in safety netting and recovery bronchodilator dosing. DESIGN: Two-phase study between June 2020 and September 2021, comprising (1) Departmental discharge practice survey, and (2) Analysis of written discharge instructions for caregivers...

Tracheostomized children have higher mortality compared to adults due to smaller airway anatomy and greater medical complexity and are at high risk for life-threatening complications. Following new tracheostomy placement, caregivers are required to successfully complete extensive training before discharge home. Training for tracheostomy emergencies such as tube obstruction and accidental decannulation is challenging without real-life, hands-on experience, but simulation training has shown promising effects on improving caregiver knowledge and comfort in preparing for emergency situations...

OBJECTIVE: Accurate triage of minor head injuries remains a challenge for mature trauma systems. More than one-third of trauma transfers are overtriaged, and minor head injuries predominate. Overtriage is inefficient, wasteful of resources, and burdensome for families. The authors studied overtriage at the sole level I pediatric trauma center (PTC) in a small state with a view toward improvement of processes. METHODS: Data on transfer patients were extracted from an institutional trauma registry over an 8-year period...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess and determine the presentation, risk factors, and outcomes of pediatric patients who were admitted for cardiac-related chest pain. BACKGROUND: Although chest pain is common in children, most cases are due to non-cardiac etiology. The risk of misdiagnosis and the pressure of potentially adverse outcomes can lead to unnecessary diagnostic testing and overall poorer patient experiences. Additionally, this can lead to a depletion of resources that could be better allocated towards patients who are truly suffering from cardiac-related pathology...

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of United States (U.S.) youth play basketball, baseball, softball, or T-ball. Each of the activities poses a documented risk of craniofacial and neck injuries. However, few studies have assessed the national prevalence of pediatric craniofacial and neck injuries in this population, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) dataset was used to identify pediatric craniofacial and neck injuries associated with basketball, baseball, softball, or T-ball from 2003-2022 in a cross-sectional study...

BACKGROUND: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) represents one of the most classic and widely used treatments for hydrocephalus in pediatric patients. Migration and externalization of the distal end of the catheter through the rectum are extremely rare complications of intestinal perforation with devastating consequences such as meningitis or peritonitis due to enteric bacteria that are significantly life-threatening. Besides, one of the biggest topics with that is that it can happen without producing symptoms, like the patient we present in this case report, which further masks the condition and puts the patient's life more at risk...

Background: Although ultrasound is considered the gold standard for the evaluation of children with suspected appendicitis, there is still much debate about the most accurate ultrasound findings. The purpose of this study was to define the best ultrasound signs that could ultimately improve the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for diagnosing pediatric acute appendicitis, and to differentiate between simple appendicitis and complicated appendicitis. Patients and Methods: After approval by our Institutional Review Board, a prospective study was carried out from January 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, in a pediatric emergency department...

BACKGROUND: Literature comparing different alternatives for pain control in the immediate postoperative period of pediatric acute appendicitis (PAA) is scarce. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively compared the analgesic and emetogenic profile of intravenous ibuprofen and metamizole in the immediate postoperative period of PAA. For this purpose, we used a sample of patients operated on in 2021 in our center. Participants were recruited on arrival at the Emergency Department and histopathological confirmation of the diagnosis was obtained in all of them...

UNLABELLED: Evaluation of guidelines in actual practice is a crucial step in guideline improvement. A retrospective evaluation of the Dutch guideline for children with fever without an apparent source (FWS) showed 50% adherence in young infants. We prospectively evaluated adherence to the Dutch guideline and its impact on management in current practice. Prospective observational multicenter cross-sectional study, including children 3 days to 16 years old presented for FWS at one of seven emergency departments in participating secondary and tertiary care hospitals in the Netherlands...

OBJECTIVES: Acute agitation during pediatric mental health emergency department (ED) visits presents safety risks to patients and staff. We previously convened multidisciplinary stakeholders who prioritized 20 proposed quality measures for pediatric acute agitation management. Our objectives were to assess feasibility of evaluating performance on these quality measures using electronic health record (EHR) data and to examine performance variation across 3 EDs. METHODS: At a children's hospital and 2 nonchildren's hospitals, we assessed feasibility of evaluating quality measures for pediatric acute agitation management using structured EHR data elements...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric urolithiasis is relatively uncommon and is generally associated with predisposing anatomic or metabolic abnormalities. In the adult population, emergency department (ED) admissions have been associated with an increase in ambient temperature. The same association has not been evaluated in the pediatric population. OBJECTIVES: To analyze trends in ED admissions due to renal colic in a pediatric population (≤ 18 years old) and to assess the possible effect of climate on ED admissions...

INTRODUCTION: There is wide variation in the cost of disposable operating room supplies between surgeons performing the same operation at the same institution. The general relationship between variation in disposable supply cost and patient outcomes is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between disposable supply cost and patient outcomes for sixteen common operations. METHODS: Cost data were reviewed for the most common procedures performed by five surgical divisions at a single children's hospital over a six-month period in 2021...

Child abuse and neglect includes any behavior that harms the child or hinders the child's development. The aim of this study was to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with suspected child abuse or neglect in the pediatric emergency department. Between July 2017 and July 2022, patients admitted to our pediatric emergency department and consulted to the medical social services unit with a preliminary diagnosis of neglect and/or abuse were retrospectively scanned through the registry system...

Introduction: Frontal-predominant epileptiform discharges (EDs) include generalized spike-wave (GSW) and frontal spikes (FS). However, negative bi-frontal ED with simultaneous occipital positivity (BFOD) are rare, leading to questions regarding physiological generators. Methods: To determine the clinical significance of BFOD, electroclinical features of children with BFOD (n = 40) were compared to control patients with GSW (n = 102) and FS (n = 100). Results: Results are presented in the following order: BFOD, GSW, and FS...

Background: Painful vaso-occlusive episodes (VOEs) are the hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD) and account for frequent visits to the emergency department (ED) or urgent care (UC). Currently, the early administration of analgesics is recommended as initial management; however, there is a need for further understanding of the effect of prompt analgesics and hydration during VOEs. The objective of this study is to analyze the factors associated with the rate of hospital admission in the setting of time to intravenous (IV) analgesics and hydration...