Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2022
Antibiotic Prescribing Errors in Patients Discharged From the Pediatric Emergency Department.
The pediatric emergency department (PED) is an especially high-risk setting for medication errors. Several factors contribute to this risk including the need to provide care to complex patients who are unknown to staff, the frequent use of verbal orders, and the necessity of weight-based dosing. This investigation sought to assess one potentially error-prone event, antibiotic prescriptions written for patients being discharged from the PED, and to characterize the occurrence of medication errors to identify opportunities for improvement. ⋯ We identified 1986 (16.8%) total errors in this analysis of antibiotic prescriptions written on discharge from the PED. Among the disease states evaluated, dosing errors were identified in 18.5% of prescriptions with the most common error being underdosing. Literature evaluating pediatric prescription errors, and specifically antibiotic discharge prescriptions, is quite limited. Further investigation is necessary in this area, and strategies should be developed leveraging technology, enhancing education, and using pharmacy personnel to help reduce antibiotic prescribing errors for patients discharged from the PED.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2022
Childhood Acute Urticaria and Seasonal Patterns Presenting in the Emergency Department of a Teaching Hospital in London, United Kingdom.
To characterize the clinical presentation, possible trigger factors and seasonality of acute urticaria (AU) in children referred to the emergency department in a teaching hospital in London, United Kingdom. ⋯ A total of 163 cases of AU were identified between January 2018 and January 2020. A seasonal trend of AU in autumn was observed. Respiratory infections were found to be the most commonly associated potential trigger of AU cases.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2022
Utilization of Imaging in the Management of Pediatric Dog Bites.
We hypothesized that imaging is overused in the initial workup of dog bite patients. To reduce radiation exposure, we aim to determine which circumstances surrounding dog bites, patient population, and injury patterns would necessitate imaging studies for management. ⋯ Our review indicates that imaging studies are overused in the initial workup of these patients, and the majority of these studies are negative. This study confirms that it is feasible to institute guidelines for ordering imaging studies in dog bite patients. This will ultimately reduce radiation exposure and the cost of care for these injuries.