Trends in CT Request and Related Outcomes in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Objectives: To study and to establish the overall trends of computed tomography (CT) use and associated outcomes in the pediatric emergency department (PED) at Royal Hospital, Oman, from 2010 to 2014.

Methods: The hospital electronic medical record was retrospectively searched to find children (from birth to 12 years old) who had visited the PED and the number of CT requests between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014. The types of CT examinations ordered were analyzed according to anatomical location and were as follows; head, abdomen/pelvis, chest, cervical spine/neck, and others.

Resuscitation volume in paediatric non-haemorrhagic blunt trauma.

Introduction: Trauma is a major cause of paediatric morbidity and mortality, yet knowledge of fluid resuscitation is limited. Our objectives were to determine current practises in resuscitation volume (RV) administered to paediatric non-haemorrhagic (NH) blunt trauma patients and to identify fluid related complications.

Methods: We examined data from 139 trauma patients 1-17 years of age with an injury severity score ≥ 12 resuscitated at a Trauma-designated Children's Hospital.

Complications of mechanical ventilation in the pediatric population.

Background: Mechanical ventilation (MV) strategies are continuously evolving in an effort to minimize adverse events. The objective of this study was to determine the complications associated with MV in children.

Study Design: Prospective observational study.

Periurethral cleaning prior to urinary catheterization in children: sterile water versus 10% povidone-iodine.

Objective: To compare urinary infection rate in children cleaned with sterile water versus a 10% povidone-iodine before bladder catheterization.

Methods: Prospective randomized controlled study of children requiring bladder catheterization in the emergency department whose parents consented to the study were randomly assigned to either of 2 groups, in which sterile water (the "sterile water" group) or 10% povidone-iodine (the "10% povidone-iodine" group) was to be used for peri-urethral cleansing prior to catheterization.

Results: The sterile water group had 92 patients and the povidone-iodine group had 94.

Test characteristics of neuroimaging in the emergency department evaluation of children for cerebrospinal fluid shunt malfunction.

Objective: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt malfunction is one of the most common life-threatening neurosurgical conditions. In the emergency department (ED), imaging techniques to identify shunt malfunction include the shunt series (SS) and CT scanning of the head. We sought to determine the test characteristics of the SS and CT scan for identifying children with shunt malfunction.