Independent risk factors for beach-related injuries in children.

This study was conducted in a resort area during the summer tourist season to identify independent risk factors for injuries to children in a beach environment. Surveys including demographics, environmental and beach conditions, group characteristics, and hypothesized risk factors were administered to 28 cases and 105 controls. The most common injuries were lacerations and puncture wounds, followed by musculoskeletal injuries.

Proinflammatory cytokine-receptor interaction model improves the predictability of cerebral white matter injury in preterm infants.

Proinflammatory cytokines have been variably linked to development of cerebral white matter injury (WMI) in preterm infants. Because soluble receptors tightly control cytokine bioactivity, we modeled cytokine-receptor interaction as a predictor of WMI. Plasma from 100 preterm infants was assayed for cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL-1beta, IL-6) and their soluble receptors (sTNF-RI), sTNF-RII, sIL-1RA, and sIL-6R).

Microdebrider vs electrocautery: a comparison of tonsillar wound healing histopathology in a canine model.

Objective: To evaluate tonsillar wound healing histopathology in a canine model following microdebrider intracapsular and electrocautery tonsillectomy techniques.

Study Design: Randomized, controlled, single-blinded, paired comparison of histopathology.

Subjects And Methods: Twelve beagles underwent tonsillectomies by microdebrider on one side and electrocautery on the other.

Family study of the inheritance of pectus excavatum.

Background: The most common congenital deformity of the chest wall is pectus excavatum, a malformation that is present in between 1 in 400 and 1 in 1000 live births and causes the body of the sternum to be displaced, producing a depression. There are many different shapes of the pectus, and multiple factors probably contribute to the final form. The etiology of pectus excavatum is uncertain, but a familial tendency has been found in clinical experience, where it may be seen in more than one sibling.

Outcomes in children with perforated tympanic membranes after tympanostomy tube placement: results using a pilot treatment algorithm.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the success of a pilot treatment algorithm for tympanic membrane perforations in children after tympanostomy tube placement.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective chart review of children with diagnosed tympanic membrane perforations after tympanostomy tube placement from 1998 to 2003 at a tertiary care children's hospital was performed. The patients had been treated according to an algorithm used by 2 pediatric otolaryngologists for management of tympanic membrane perforations: observation vs myringoplasty.

Post-tonsillectomy morbidity and quality of life in pediatric patients with obstructive tonsils and adenoid: microdebrider vs electrocautery.

Objective: To prospectively compare outcomes in children over age 2 with obstructive adenotonsillar hypertrophy when tonsillectomy is performed utilizing an intracapsular microdebrider technique versus low-wattage electrocautery technique.

Study Design And Setting: Prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled trial at a tertiary care children's hospital.

Results: Among the 300 children, those treated with the microdebrider resumed normal activity faster, with a median recovery of 2.

Clinical efficacy of racemic albuterol versus levalbuterol for the treatment of acute pediatric asthma.

Study Objective: An efficacy treatment study is conducted comparing levalbuterol to racemic albuterol for acute pediatric asthma in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: This was a prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled study involving 129 children (2 to 14 years), presenting to a pediatric ED with an acute moderate or severe asthma exacerbation. Children were treated using a standard ED asthma pathway.

Pain, position, and stylet styles: infant lumbar puncture practices of pediatric emergency attending physicians.

Objectives: Lumbar punctures (LPs) are common emergency department (ED) procedures. Few pediatric studies exist to define training, guide practice, or indicate preferred methods for infants. While pain control is recommended, no recent studies indicate prevalence of analgesic use since the advent of topical anesthetics.

Impact of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (Prevnar) on middle ear fluid in children undergoing tympanostomy tube insertion.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the bacteriology of middle ear effusions in children who have received the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (Prevnar) compared with unvaccinated children.

Methods: A prospective review of medical records from July 2001 to July 2002 was conducted on children with middle ear effusion at time of tympanostomy tube insertion. Middle ear fluid was plated onto culture media immediately after acquisition, and antimicrobial resistance of cultured organisms along with serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae was examined.

A pilot study of the impact of surgical repair on disease-specific quality of life among patients with pectus excavatum.

Background: This study was conducted to determine the ability of 2 questionnaires (ie, child and parent versions) to measure physical and psychosocial quality-of-life changes after surgical repair of pectus excavatum.

Methods: The authors administered these questionnaires by telephone interviews with 22 parents and 19 children (ages 8 to 18) before surgery and 6 to 12 months after repair by the Nuss procedure.

Results: The instruments had high test-retest reliability (Rho > 0.