Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2002
ReviewThe importance of cultural and linguistic issues in the emergency care of children.
Rapid growth in the diversity of the US population makes it increasingly likely that emergency clinicians will encounter greater numbers of patients from different cultures, but little is known about the importance of culture and language in the emergency care of children. ⋯ Failure to appreciate the importance of culture and language in pediatric emergencies can result in multiple adverse consequences, including difficulties with informed consent, miscommunication, inadequate understanding of diagnoses and treatment by families, dissatisfaction with care, preventable morbidity and mortality, unnecessary child abuse evaluations, lower quality of care, clinician bias, and ethnic disparities in prescriptions, analgesia, test ordering, and diagnostic evaluations.
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To examine the demographic and clinical characteristics of children using the pediatric emergency department (ED) in a medical center in Baltimore, Maryland. The rate of admission and length of stay for children who were evaluated in the ED were also examined. ⋯ The challenge in most communities is to build a true system of care that involves proactive and more preventive care in natural settings, such as schools, and coordination and improvement of care for youth with more serious problems.
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2002
Comparative StudyPigtail catheters versus large-bore chest tubes for pneumothoraces in children treated in the emergency department.
We sought to compare the efficacy (pneumothorax resolution and hospitalization days), pain (narcotic usage), and safety (need for repositioning or replacement) associated with placement of large-bore chest tubes versus pigtail catheters in children with pneumothoraces. ⋯ Pigtail catheters offer a safe and effective alternative to large-bore chest tubes for patients receiving treatment for pneumothoraces in the ED.
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2002
Ceftriaxone use in the emergency department: are we doing it right?
To evaluate the patterns of ceftriaxone use in an urban pediatric emergency department (PED) and to determine if overuse exists based on published guidelines for management of febrile infants. ⋯ Based on published guidelines, ceftriaxone use in the PED was not justified in the majority of cases.