Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2005
Screening for intimate-partner violence in the pediatric emergency department.
The aims of this study were to determine the annual prevalence of intimate-partner violence (IPV) in an urban pediatric emergency department (ED) among mothers seeking care for their children, to examine the associations between IPV and family socioeconomic characteristics, triage time, and child's diagnosis, and to describe perceptions and preferences for IPV screening. ⋯ The annual prevalence of IPV in a pediatric ED is 11%. As socioeconomic and visit characteristics are imprecise in identifying women at risk, screening should include all women. Screening for IPV in the pediatric ED is acceptable to women.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2005
Case ReportsAlbuterol-induced myocardial ischemia in sickle cell anemia after hemolysis from ceftriaxone administration.
Hemolysis induced by ceftriaxone is a complication that has been described in sickle cell anemia. Albuterol is known to induce myocardial ischemia. We describe a case of albuterol-induced cardiac dysfunction in a patient with sickle cell anemia who developed severe anemia after administration of ceftriaxone.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2005
Epidemiology of pediatric emergency department use at an urban medical center.
Dramatic increases in emergency department (ED) use contribute to rising healthcare costs and decrease continuity of care in the United States. Yet little is known about the acuity, frequency of visits, and demographic characteristics of children using the ED. This study examines general demographic trends over a 3-year period and examines whether there are factors associated with varying acuity at an urban academic pediatric ED. ⋯ Nearly half of pediatric emergency visits are for nonurgent care. Racial disparities in use of the ED for nonurgent care may be related to patient's proximity to the hospital. Patterns of use are stable across the 3 years. Further study is needed to identify mutable factors in emergency care use.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2005
Case ReportsA rapid noninvasive method of detecting elevated intracranial pressure using bedside ocular ultrasound: application to 3 cases of head trauma in the pediatric emergency department.
Managing pediatric head trauma with elevated intracranial pressure in the acute setting can be challenging. Bedside ocular ultrasound for measuring optic nerve sheath diameters has been recently proposed as a portable noninvasive method to rapidly detect increased intracranial pressure in emergency department patients with head trauma. Prior study data agree that the upper limit of normal optic nerve sheath diameters is 5.0 mm in adults, 4.5 mm in children aged 1 to 15, and 4.0 mm in infants up to 1 year of age. We report the application of this technique to 3 cases of head trauma in the pediatric emergency department.