Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2010
Nurse practitioner roles in pediatric emergency departments: a national survey.
Emergency department (ED) visits continue to climb in the United States despite numerous primary care initiatives. A variety of staffing models including the utilization of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) and the use of fast-track or express care are alternative methods of caring for the ED patients with less acute illness. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of NPs in pediatric EDs (PEDs) and fast-track areas and to identify common procedures performed by NPs in PEDs. ⋯ The use of NPs in the PED is common. Nurse practitioners in the PED perform a number of different procedures. Future studies analyzing practice patterns and effectiveness of the NP role in the PED are needed.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyAlcohol use history differentiates adolescents treated in the emergency department after an alcohol-related incident.
The current study compared 3 groups of adolescents identified in an emergency department (ED) following an alcohol-related event: (1) alcohol-positive adolescents scoring at or above the clinical cutoff on a measure of problematic drinking, the Adolescent Drinking Inventory (ADI) (n = 45); (2) alcohol-positive adolescents scoring below the clinical cutoff on the ADI (n = 68), and (3) alcohol-negative adolescents (n = 64). We examined whether these 3 groups of adolescents differed on measures of substance use as well as psychosocial factors. ⋯ These findings underscore that alcohol-positive adolescents being treated in an ED are a heterogeneous group with respect to substance use as well as parent and peer risk factors. Physicians need to consider relevant background factors when making individualized discharge recommendations.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyKetamine/midazolam versus etomidate/fentanyl: procedural sedation for pediatric orthopedic reductions.
Orthopedic reductions are commonly performed procedures requiring sedation in the pediatric emergency department (PED). Ketamine is a widely used agent for pediatric procedural sedation, but its use may present difficulties in select populations, such as those with psychiatric diagnoses. In such a case, alternative agents that are safe and effective are needed. Etomidate is a commonly used induction agent for rapid-sequence intubation in the PED. Several retrospective and few prospective studies support etomidate's safety and efficacy in pediatric procedural sedation. ⋯ This is a small study that strongly suggests that, for pediatric orthopedic reductions, K/M is more effective at reducing observed distress than E/F, although both provide equal procedural amnesia. With its significantly shorter sedation and recovery times, E/F may be more applicable for procedural sedation for shorter, simpler procedures in the PED.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2010
Case ReportsA febrile young infant with splenomegaly and ecchymoses.
We discuss a young infant who presented to the emergency department with fever, ecchymoses, and splenomegaly with subsequent diagnosis of infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We review the infant's presentation, diagnostic, and therapeutic interventions, as well as the rare diagnosis of infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its poor prognosis. We pay particular attention to the hyperleukocytosis seen in this patient, a true oncologic emergency, and its treatment in the emergency department setting.