J Paediatr Child Health
September 2024
Aim: To characterise key features of young people presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a mental health complaint when comparing children (aged 7 to 12 years) and teenagers (13 years and greater).
Methods: Retrospective review of all ED mental health presentations in children aged 7-17 years presenting over a 12-month period in 2018 to a tertiary children's hospital in Victoria, Australia. Univariate analyses were carried out to examine the relationship between children and teenagers and a number of key presentation variables.
Objective: Life-threatening thoracic trauma requires emergency pleural decompression and thoracostomy and chest drain insertion are core trauma procedures. Reliably determining a safe site for pleural decompression in children can be challenging. We assessed whether the Mid-Arm Point (MAP) technique, a procedural aid proposed for use with injured adults, would also identify a safe site for pleural decompression in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The prevalence of paediatric anaphylaxis is rising in Australia. Treatment requires timely administration of intramuscular (IM) adrenaline. Study goals included utilising in situ simulation (ISS) within a translational simulation (TS) programme as a diagnostic tool to identify the frequency and cause of IM adrenaline errors in a paediatric ED, and utilising ISS to evaluate multidisciplinary emergency team response to anaphylaxis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To characterise the key features and management of young people presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a mental health (MH) complaint and a known diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Methods: Retrospective review of all ED MH presentations in children aged 7-17 years, presenting over a 12-month period from the 1st of January 2018 to the 31st of December 2018, to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Univariate analyses were carried out to examine the relationship between an underlying diagnosis of ASD and/or ADHD and a number of key presentation variables.
Aim: To describe a cohort of patients aged 7-17 years presenting with mental health (MH) problems to an Australian tertiary paediatric emergency department (ED), in order to identify: (i) predictors of admission; and (ii) prolonged length of stay (LOS); (iii) reasons for ED presentation based on diagnosis and (iv) differences between major diagnostic groups.
Methods: Data for all presentations from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 were extracted and analysed from the hospital's electronic medical record system. MH presentations were identified though rule-based coding and manual file review.
Objective: There is paucity of evidence for psychotropic medication use in children and adolescents presenting with mental health (MH) problems to the ED. We set out to describe paediatric psychotropic medication use in the ED.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective electronic medical record review of ED patients with MH discharge codes at a tertiary paediatric ED in 2018.
Objective: To establish the relationship between serum point-of-care (POC) ketones at triage and moderate-to-severe dehydration based on the validated Gorelick Scales.
Design, Setting And Patients: Prospective unblinded study from April 2016 to February 2017 in a paediatric emergency department. Patients aged 1 month to 5 years, with vomiting and/or diarrhoea and/or decreased intake with signs of moderate or severe dehydration or clinical concern for hypoglycaemia were eligible.
Objective: Mental health (MH) presentations to ED are increasing in children and adolescents. Little is known about patients with severe acute behavioural disturbance (ABD). We set out to describe patients with ABD severe enough to trigger an acute crisis team response in ED (termed 'Code Grey') and how they differ from other MH patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmerg Med Australas
August 2020
Objective: Audit and research projects in the ED are important to improve patient care but can be time and resource consuming. We identified and prioritised audit and research topics among multidisciplinary ED staff to fill perceived knowledge gaps, encourage engagement, reduce duplication and facilitate translation of evidence into clinical practice.
Methods: A two-stage electronic Delphi survey process was undertaken by senior medical, nursing, education and social work staff at the Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria.
Background And Objectives: Studies suggest that trace element and vitamin deficiencies are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data describing the rates of vitamin and trace element deficiencies in the ASD population of the northwest of Ireland is lacking. We wished to determine the prevalence of zinc and vitamin A deficiency in the ASD population compared with controls within this geographical area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine if low-flow nasal prongs therapy with room air, compared with no treatment, facilitates weaning from nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) in very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight <1500 g) infants.
Study Design: VLBW infants who received respiratory support for ≥ 48 hours and who were stable on NCPAP for 24 hours were eligible for inclusion in this multicenter, randomized controlled trial. On stopping NCPAP, infants were randomized to receive 1 L/min air via nasal prongs or to spontaneous breathing in room air.