It is a common practice to monitor blood tests in patients receiving long-term trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) prophylaxis for recurrent urinary tract infections. This multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial enrolled 607 children aged 2 to 71 months with vesicoureteral reflux diagnosed after symptomatic urinary tract infection. Study participants received TMP-SMZ (n = 302) or placebo (n = 305) and were followed for 2 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: No studies have examined whether use of sedation during a Tc-99 m dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) renal scan reduces patient discomfort.
Objective: To compare discomfort level during a DMSA scan to the discomfort level during other frequently performed uroradiologic tests, and to determine whether use of sedation during a DMSA scan modifies the level of discomfort.
Materials And Methods: We examined the discomfort level in 798 children enrolled in the Randomized Intervention for children with Vesicoureteral Reflux (RIVUR) and Careful Urinary Tract Infection Evaluation (CUTIE) studies by asking parents to rate their child's discomfort level with each procedure on a scale from 0 to 10.
A pediatric patient was assaulted while being treated at a Level 1 pediatric trauma center, prompting a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services site visit. The process of screening for physical abuse and protection of patients was reevaluated and revised, and a new guideline was implemented and shared with referral hospitals. During this same time period, 13 referral hospitals participated in an unrelated federally funded study determining the impact of recognition and care of injured children in states with and without a pediatric emergency care facility recognition program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study aimed to determine whether healthy children with fractures resulting from minor accidental trauma have a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency than that of healthy children without fractures.
Methods: This was a prospective case-control study of ambulatory children younger than 18 years with and without fractures in a pediatric emergency department. Evaluation included serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level, complete metabolic panel, and phosphorus level.
West J Emerg Med
September 2014
Introduction: As emergency medicine (EM) has become a more prominent feature in the clinical years of medical school training, national EM clerkship curricula have been published to address the need to standardize students' experiences in the field. However, current national student curricula in EM do not include core pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) concepts.
Methods: A workgroup was formed by the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine and the Pediatric Interest Group of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine to develop a consensus on the content to be covered in EM and PEM student courses.
Objective: This study aimed to determine if a pediatric emergency care facility recognition (PECFR) program improved care processes for injured children younger than 15 years.
Methods: A controlled pre-post study design was used. Emergency department (ED) medical records were abstracted from 8 Delaware hospitals and 13 comparison hospitals in North Carolina in 2009 and again in 2013, 1 year after PECFR implementation.
Objectives: The objective was to describe patterns of rapid influenza test ordering, diagnosis of influenza, and antiviral prescribing by the treating physician for children and adults presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with fever and acute respiratory symptoms in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, over two influenza seasons.
Methods: The authors prospectively enrolled patients presenting to the ED with fever and acute respiratory symptoms for two influenza seasons: H1N1 pandemic of September 2009 through mid-May 2010 and November 2010 through April 2011. Enrolled patients had nose or and throat swabs obtained and tested for influenza by viral culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
Objectives: A novel wound closure device combining a mesh tape and octylcyanoacrylate (OCA) topical skin adhesive (TSA) was developed to facilitate wound closure and enhance the adhesive's strength. The objective of this study was to determine whether the incidence of wound dehiscence after laceration repair with the new device was equivalent to that after use of a high-viscosity OCA. We hypothesized that the rate of complete wound edge apposition would be equivalent for the two closure devices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCongenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt (CEPS) is associated with polysplenia and heterotaxy and can cause portopulmonary hypertension. We report a 12-month-old girl who acutely died likely due to portopulmonary hypertension secondary to CEPS associated with heterotaxy and polysplenia. A retrospective radiographic review following her autopsy identified an anatomical explanation for the acute death in an infant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency affecting erythrocytes is the most common enzymopathy in humans. It requires caution with the intake of oxidizing substances (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLemierre syndrome is a disease that presents with oropharyngeal infection, sepsis, internal jugular vein thrombosis, and septic emboli with the Gram-negative organism Fusobacterium necrophorum cultured as the etiologic agent. Clindamycin, metronidazole and ampicillin-sulbactam are effective antibiotic treatments, although the length of treatment has not been firmly established. The syndrome is seen less frequently in the current age of antibiotics.
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