Neonatal resuscitation skills among pediatricians and family physicians: is residency training preparing for postresidency practice?

Background: Pediatricians and family physicians are responsible for providing newborn resuscitation, yet Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for training in this area during residency differ markedly for the two specialties. Our objectives were to determine (1) the extent to which neonatal resuscitation training differs for pediatric and family medicine residents; (2) the extent to which general pediatricians and family physicians engage in newborn resuscitation in their practice; and (3) whether use of resuscitation skills differs between urban/suburban and rural providers.

Methods: We surveyed a national cohort of pediatricians and family physicians who obtained board certification between 2001 and 2005.

Pediatric surgical site infection in the developing world: a Kenyan experience.

Background: The purpose of the current study was to determine the incidence of pediatric surgical site infections(SSIs) at an academic children’s hospital in rural sub-Saharan Africa and to identify potentially modifiable risk factors.

Methods: Prospectively collected data from 1,008 surgical admissions to Bethany Kids Kijabe Hospital (Kijabe, Kenya) were analyzed retrospectively. Follow-up data were available in 940 subjects.

Contemporary pediatric splenectomy: continuing controversies.

Purpose: We undertook the current study to update the literature on pediatric splenectomy in the age of minimally invasive proficiency among pediatric surgeons. The study is designed to address specific concerns among surgeons about the suitability of the laparoscopic approach in specific situations and among hematologists about the relative benefits and risks of splenectomy in children.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinicopathologic data for 118 children who underwent open (OS) or laparoscopic (LS) splenectomy at an urban tertiary children's hospital from January 2000 to July 2008.

Pediatric thyroidectomy: a collaborative surgical approach.

Introduction: We have developed a collaborative approach to pediatric thyroid surgery, with operations performed at a children's hospital by a pediatric surgeon and an endocrine surgeon. We hypothesize that this strategy minimizes specialist-specific limitations and optimizes care of children with surgical thyroid disease.

Methods: Data from all partial and total thyroidectomies performed by the pediatric-endocrine surgery team at a tertiary children's hospital between 1995 and 2009 were collected and analyzed retrospectively.

The inflammatory response to injury in children.

Purpose Of Review: Severely injured children have a decreased incidence and different pattern of multiple organ failure when compared with adults. This article reviews recent advances in understanding the mechanisms leading to this discrepancy.

Recent Findings: Post injury, inflammation-related outcomes are age-related, as demonstrated by epidemiological and laboratory investigations that confirm a relative protection from acute lung injury and multiple organ failure in children.

Operative vs nonoperative management of blunt pancreatic trauma in children.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of nonoperative vs operative management of blunt pancreatic trauma in children.

Methods: Retrospective review of pancreatic injuries from 1995 to 2006 at an urban level I regional pediatric trauma center.

Results: Forty-three children with pancreatic injury were included in the analysis.

Predicting response to splenectomy in children with immune thrombocytopenic purpura.

Purpose: Predicting the response to splenectomy in children with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) continues to be a clinical challenge. The purpose of this study is to identify preoperative predictors of outcome for splenectomy in children with ITP.

Methods: The charts of 19 children who underwent splenectomy for ITP were retrospectively reviewed.

Serum sickness following rabbit antithymocyte-globulin induction in a liver transplant recipient: case report and literature review.

Thymoglobulin (Genzyme, Cambridge, MA) is an antithymocyte globulin preparation used for induction immunosuppression therapy in solid organ transplantation. It is being utilized with increasing frequency in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in an effort to minimize or delay the use of calcineurin inhibitors due to their inherent nephrotoxicity. Experience with thymoglobulin in OLT remains limited.

Publication rates of abstracts presented at annual musculoskeletal tumor society meetings.

Beware of the unpublished abstract! What is the publication rate of abstracts presented at Musculoskeletal Tumor Society meetings, and how does this compare with other orthopaedic and medical meetings? Three hundred thirty-six podium presentations from six annual meetings were identified and their publication was searched at a minimum of 3 years after the event. An effort was made to determine what percent of these abstracts eventually were published in a peer-reviewed journal. It was determined that 137 abstracts were published for a publication rate of 41%.