Developing and evaluating an automated appendicitis risk stratification algorithm for pediatric patients in the emergency department.

Objective: To evaluate a proposed natural language processing (NLP) and machine-learning based automated method to risk stratify abdominal pain patients by analyzing the content of the electronic health record (EHR).

Methods: We analyzed the EHRs of a random sample of 2100 pediatric emergency department (ED) patients with abdominal pain, including all with a final diagnosis of appendicitis. We developed an automated system to extract relevant elements from ED physician notes and lab values and to automatically assign a risk category for acute appendicitis (high, equivocal, or low), based on the Pediatric Appendicitis Score.

Behavior changes after minor emergency procedures.

Objectives: Procedures are common in pediatric emergency departments and frequently cause distress from pain and/or anxiety. The objective of this study was to describe the incidence, types, and magnitude of long-term behavior changes after procedures in the emergency setting.

Methods: This is a descriptive pilot study to determine if children display negative behavioral changes after a minor emergency department procedure (abscess drainage or laceration repair).

Assessment of disparities in the use of anxiolysis and sedation among children undergoing laceration repair.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) were associated with the provision of anxiolysis and/or sedation among children undergoing laceration repair.

Methods: A 1-year cross-sectional sample of children undergoing laceration repair in an urban tertiary-care pediatric emergency department was analyzed. Primary outcomes included the use of nonpharmacologic anxiolysis (presence of a child life specialist), pharmacologic anxiolysis, and procedural sedation.

Review of new and newly discovered respiratory tract viruses in children.

Respiratory tract viral infection continues to be among the most common reasons for emergency department visits and hospitalization of children, particularly infants younger than 1 year, in the United States. Throughout the years, clinicians have considered respiratory syncytial virus followed by influenza as the most common pathogens responsible. Over the past decade, new viruses have been discovered through both more specific testing and the finding of new agents causing infection.