Pediatric emergency care
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Group A streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus are the most common bacterial etiologies of skin and soft tissue infections that range in virulence from very mild to limb/life threatening. Antibiotic coverage recommendations are varying and subject to controversy. ⋯ Rapid bacterial identification using mass spectrometry is on the horizon. Therapeutic considerations should include cost and adherence issues.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2017
Case ReportsA Novel Method of Intraosseous Infusion of Adenosine for the Treatment of Supraventricular Tachycardia in an Infant.
Supraventricular tachycardia is a common arrhythmia faced by emergency physicians in the pediatric population. In most cases, antecubital intravenous access can be established, and adenosine can be administered in a rapid and timely fashion. The role and administration of intraosseous adenosine are poorly established. We describe a case where the administration of adenosine was successful via a mixed method administration.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2017
Observational StudyReliability of the Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability Scale in Assessing Acute Pain in the Pediatric Emergency Department.
The Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) scale is one of the most widely utilized observational pain assessment scales in clinical practice. Although designed and validated to assess postoperative pain, the tool is currently applied to assess acute pain in multiple settings, including the emergency department. Scarce literature exists evaluating the reliability of the FLACC scale in the nonsurgical population and none in the emergency department. We sought to investigate the reliability of the FLACC scale in assessing acute pain in the pediatric emergency department and to examine the sensitivity of FLACC scores after the administration of analgesia. ⋯ The FLACC scale demonstrated high interrater reliability for both individual FLACC items and total scores in a convenience sample of patients aged 6 months to 5 years in a pediatric emergency department. It seems to be an appropriate observational tool to assess acute pain in this population.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2017
Observational StudyPoint-of-Care Ultrasound for the Detection of Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage in Infants: A Pilot Study.
Computed tomography is the criterion standard imaging modality to detect intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in children and infants after closed head injury, but its use can be limited by patient instability, need for sedation, and risk of ionizing radiation exposure. Cranial ultrasound is used routinely to detect intraventricular hemorrhage in neonates. We sought to determine if point-of-care (POC) cranial ultrasound performed by emergency physicians can detect traumatic ICH in infants. ⋯ Traumatic ICH can be identified with POC cranial ultrasound by ultrasound fellowship-trained emergency physicians. Although variations between observers and wide confidence intervals preclude drawing meaningful conclusions about sensitivity and specificity from this sample, these results support the need for further investigation into the role of POC cranial ultrasound.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2017
Improving Discharge Instructions in a Pediatric Emergency Department: Impact of a Quality Initiative.
Effective communication between physician and patient is essential to optimize care after discharge from the emergency department (ED). Written discharge care instructions (DCI) complement verbal instructions and have been shown to improve communication and patient management. In 2012, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a quality measure (OP-19) that assesses compliance with key elements considered essential for high-quality written DCI. ⋯ The ED DCI improved in all 8 elements after a QI intervention. A detailed DCI at ED discharge enhances the patient's ability to comply with postdischarge treatment plan. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of improving DCI on ED return rates and other outcomes.