Publications by authors named "Kristin Ratnayake"

Background And Objective: There exists no standardized curriculum for pediatric residents to develop procedural skills during residency training. Many pediatric residency programs are transitioning to block education sessions; the effectiveness of this format for delivering pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) procedural curriculum has not been evaluated. The objective is to determine if a PEM block education session improved pediatric residents' knowledge and confidence in 4 domains: laceration repair, splinting of extremities, resuscitation/airway management, and point-of-care ultrasound.

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Background: There is an increased emphasis on reducing exposure to ionizing radiation in pediatric patients. Guidelines from the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network help practitioners identify patients at low risk for clinically important traumatic brain injury after head injury.

Objectives: We seek to determine whether the institution of a pediatric track staffed by pediatric emergency medicine physicians (PEMs) within a community emergency department (ED) impacts the overall utilization of head computed tomography (CT) on children younger than 15 years with head injury.

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Minor cervical spine injury is a common cause of pediatric emergency department visits. We present a case of a 10-year-old boy with transient paresthesia after minor cervical trauma found to have a rare cervical spine abnormality requiring surgical fusion. We present and discuss the management options for os odontoideum.

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Objective: We sought to describe the causative organisms, bones involved, and complications in cases of pediatric osteomyelitis in the postvaccine age and in the era of increasing infection with community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of children 12 years and younger presenting to our pediatric emergency department between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2012, with the diagnosis of osteomyelitis. We reviewed operative cultures, blood cultures, and imaging studies.

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Vomiting accounts for up to 36% of neonatal visits to the emergency department. The causes of vomiting can range from benign to life-threatening. Evidence to guide the diagnosis and management of neonatal vomiting in the emergency department is limited.

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