Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2024
Critical Emergency Department Interventions and Clinical Deterioration in Children With Nonsevere Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage.
Substantial practice variation exists in the management of children with nonsevere traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (tICH). A comprehensive understanding of rates and timing of clinically important tICH, including critical interventions and deterioration, along with associated clinical and neuroradiographic characteristics, will inform accurate risk stratification. ⋯ Clinically important tICH occurred in 13% of children with nonsevere tICH, and 7% of children who did not undergo immediate ED interventions later deteriorated, all of whom had an initial GCS ≥ 14. However, a subgroup of children was identified as low risk based on clinical and neuroradiographic characteristics.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2024
Emergency Department Usage Patterns Among Pediatric Victims of Gun Violence and Physical Assault.
Violent injuries are a common reason for pediatric emergency department (ED) visits, with gun violence being the leading cause of violent death among children. The objective of this study was to assess for patterns of pediatric ED usage that are associated with future ED visits for violent injuries. ⋯ Emergency department visits due to interpersonal violence, mental/behavioral health, sexual/reproductive health, and sexual assault are associated with recurrent ED visits for violent injuries. Awareness of patterns of ED usage may aid in identifying patients at high risk for violence and increase opportunities for preventative interventions.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2024
Characteristics and Risk Factors of Central Nervous System Infection in Children With Febrile Seizures.
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the necessity of performing lumbar puncture in patients experiencing febrile seizures, considering the epidemiology specific to Brazil. ⋯ When considering the use of lumbar puncture in febrile seizure, it is important to conduct a comprehensive evaluation that considers multiple factors, including clinical signs, symptoms, and the overall clinical context. Meningeal signs may be less prominent, and other symptoms such as lethargy, irritability, and vomiting may serve as more reliable indicators. Although clinical examination suggestive of meningitis remains an important factor, the recurrence of febrile seizures and a longer length of fever can provide additional insights and aid in decision-making regarding lumbar puncture.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2024
Observational StudyAccuracy of Pediatric Interventricular Septal Thickness Measurement Obtained Via Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Prospective Study.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic, life-threatening cardiovascular disease that often goes unidentified in pediatric patients. Patients are often asymptomatic and neither history or physical examination are reliable to detect the disease. The only reliable method to diagnose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is with echocardiography to look at interventricular septal thickness. Emerging literature has shown that cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) performed by pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians is as effective and accurate compared with cardiac echocardiography performed by pediatric cardiologists. ⋯ Point-of-care ultrasound performed by ultrasound-trained PEM physicians to measure pediatric IVSd thickness has a high diagnostic accuracy with excellent agreement with a pediatric cardiologist.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2024
Computer Simulation to Assess Emergency Department Length of Stay in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.
Our study aimed to identify how emergency department (ED) arrival rate, process of care, and physical layout can impact ED length of stay (LOS) in pediatric traumatic brain injury care. ⋯ Exceeding certain threshold ED arrival rates of children with traumatic brain injury can substantially increase pediatric trauma center ED LOS but modifications to ED processes and bed location may mitigate this increase.