• William Hollaway and Meredith L Borland.
• Emergency Department, Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2022 Aug 1; 34 (4): 584-589.

ObjectiveTo determine the rate of unplanned return visits (uRVs) within 48 h to a paediatric ED over a 12-month period and describe the factors associated with these uRV.MethodsRetrospective review of electronic data regarding the initial and follow-up visit at a tertiary paediatric hospital ED in Western Australia. The primary outcome was the number of patients who presented for uRV within 48 h of their initial ED visit.ResultsBetween August 2018 and July 2019, 2322 patients returned to the ED for a uRV comprising 3.4% of 68 352 ED presentations with more than 53% returning with infectious causes. Triage category 3 patients were most likely to represent (OR 1.11, P = 0.029) with 3-month to 1-year old (OR 1.37, P < 0.00001) and 1-5-year old (OR 1.32, P < 0.00001) the commonest age groups. There was seasonal variation in uRVs demonstrating a greater number in the winter months. The percentage of uRVs to overall ED presentations was greater in the summer months (3.8-4.1%). There was a significant increase in uRVs occurring up to 2 weeks after the changeovers in middle-grade ED doctors only.ConclusionsThe present study has demonstrated associations between uRV and initial-visit triage category 3, age between 3 months and 5 years, and presentations because of infectious illness. Middle-grade doctor changeover was also associated with an increase in uRVs.© 2022 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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