Background: The validated Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) prediction rules are meant to aid clinicians in safely reducing unwarranted imaging in children with minor head injuries (MHI). Even so, computed tomography (CT) scan utilization remains high, especially in intermediate-risk (per PECARN) MHI patients. The primary objective of this quality improvement initiative was to reduce CT utilization rates in the intermediate-risk MHI patients.
Methods: This project was conducted in a Level I trauma pediatric emergency department (ED). Children < 18 years evaluated for intermediate-risk MHI from June 2016 through July 2019 were included. Our key drivers were provider education, decision support, and performance feedback. Our primary outcome was change in head CT utilization rate (%). Balancing measures included return visit within 72 hours of the index visit, ED length of stay (LOS), and clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI) on the revisit. We used statistical process control methodology to assess head CT rates over time.
Results: A total of 1,535 eligible intermediate-risk MHI patients were analyzed. Our intervention bundle was associated with a decrease in CT use from 18.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 14.5% to 22.5%) in the preintervention period to 13.9% (95% CI = 13.8% to 14.1%) in the postintervention period, an absolute reduction of 4.6% (p = 0.015). Over time, no difference was noted in either ED LOS or return visit rate. There was only one revisit with a ciTBI to our institution during the study period.
Conclusions: Our multifaceted quality improvement initiative was both safe and effective in reducing our CT utilization rates in children with intermediate-risk MHI.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acem.14177 | DOI Listing |
Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg
January 2025
Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Periodontal Res
January 2025
Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
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BMC Oral Health
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Department of Conservative Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University, 26-6, Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02453, Republic of Korea.
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Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg
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Stomatological Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, Chongqing, China. Electronic address:
The retrospective study aimed to compare the space-maintaining effects of sticky bone (bone graft matrix enriched with injectable platelet-rich fibrin) and titanium mesh for bone augmentation in the aesthetic zone. Patients who underwent single implant placement and had type 2/4 alveolar bone defects (buccal bone wall loss is >50% of the expected implant length) were screened for inclusion in this study. The labial bone plate width was measured at 1, 3, and 5 mm below the apical implant platform on cone beam computed tomography images taken immediately and 6 months after surgery.
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