A Cloud-Based Virtual Reality App for a Novel Telemindfulness Service: Rationale, Design and Feasibility Evaluation.

Background: Worldwide, there has been a marked increase in stress and anxiety, also among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Access to psychology services is limited, with some estimates suggesting that over 50% of sufferers are not accessing the existing services available to them for reasons such as inconvenience, embarrassment, or stigmatization concerns around mental health. Health service providers have increasingly been turning to drug-free therapies, such as mindfulness programs, as complementary treatments.

An educational video improves technique in performance of pediatric lumbar punctures.

Background: Unsuccessful or traumatic lumbar punctures (LPs) occur commonly and contribute to patient discomfort and to challenges in medical decision making in the pediatric emergency department (ED).

Objective: We produced an instructional video demonstrating the best practices in pediatric LP technique. We hypothesized that the performance of LPs would change and the rate of successful LPs would increase after watching the video.

Pediatric mastoiditis in the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine era: symptom duration guides empiric antimicrobial therapy.

Background: The microbiology of acute otitis media has changed in the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) era. We hypothesize similar changes with pediatric mastoiditis.

Objectives: To compare the etiology of mastoiditis in the pre-PCV (January 1995-December 2000) and post-PCV (January 2001- April 2005) eras to guide empiric antimicrobial therapy in the pediatric emergency department.