Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2019
Case ReportsIntravenous Paracetamol Overdose: A Pediatric Case Report.
Paracetamol is a common antipyretic often used to treat children with fever and pain. With the increasing administration of intravenous (IV) paracetamol, there will be the associated risk of medication dosing errors. We report a case of IV paracetamol overdose in a child with fever during hospital admission. A IV paracetamol dosing error occurred, with delayed recognition resulting in transient hepatotoxicity, with a peak alanine transaminase of 1946 IU/L and aspartate transaminase of 1633 IU/L.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2019
Case ReportsA Finding of Hepatic Abscess in a Teenager Presenting With Abdominal Pain.
Pyogenic hepatic abscess is a rare infection, but it is an important diagnosis to consider because the current mortality is approximately 5%. We present a case of abdominal pain in a 16-year-old male patient whose presentation was initially concerning for appendicitis but was later diagnosed as having a pyogenic hepatic abscess. It is important to direct the patient to the proper treatment including source control with drainage and antibiotics to decrease morbidity and mortality.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2019
Observational StudyA Reexamination of the Accuracy of the Broselow Tape as an Instrument for Weight Estimation.
Accurate weight estimation is important for calculating appropriate medication dosages, determining rates of fluid replacement, and selecting correct equipment sizes in critically ill children requiring resuscitation. The actual measurement of the weight of a critically ill or injured child is often not possible. The Broselow Pediatric Emergency Tape (BT) is an important tool for predicting a child's weight based on his/her height. Although BT has previously been validated, given the increasing prevalence of obesity in today's society, it behooves clinicians relying on this resuscitation aid to revisit the issue. ⋯ In our population, BT was inaccurate in predicting weight in 42% of children (underestimation in 158 children [29.4%] and overestimation weight in 68 children [12.6%]). However, the majority of discrepancies involved only 1 BT color zone. Emergency physicians should be aware of this discrepancy until more accurate methods become available.