Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Mar 2022
Concussion Referral and Practice Patterns by Pediatric Emergency Medicine Providers.
Concussion is a commonly encountered diagnosis for pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) providers, yet little is known regarding referral patterns to specialists. Our goal was to assess PEM providers' referral patterns and current usage of standardized evaluation tools. ⋯ Although most PEM providers reported significant experience and confidence in managing pediatric concussion, standardized assessment tools were infrequently used. Most were likely to use a risk stratification tool to assist in specialty referral. Future studies should assess the ability of targeted referral strategies to improve recovery for concussed youth.
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Pediatric emergency care · Mar 2022
Traumatic Brain Injury in Children: Glial fibrillary Acidic Protein and Clinical Outcomes.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a neuronal protein released after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and detectable in serum samples. GFAP correlates with symptom severity in adults and may be a marker of brain injury in children with milder symptoms or preverbal children. ⋯ GFAP identifies children with TBI, even at the milder end of the spectrum, and is strongly associated with postinjury vomiting. It may be a useful marker of pediatric TBI; however, sampling is time critical.
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Pediatric emergency care · Mar 2022
Point-of-Care Ultrasound-Guided Aspiration of the Hip Joint by an Emergency Medicine Physician: A Pediatric Retrospective Case Series.
Early administration of antibiotics is crucial to treating septic hip. This study aimed to describe the clinical course and outcomes of children with septic hip diagnosed using point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS)-guided hip aspirations performed by an emergency medicine physician. ⋯ This case series shows that POCUS-guided hip aspiration is both safe and feasible in diagnosing septic hip in the pediatric emergency department. The procedure enables rapid diagnosis and early initiation of antibiotic treatment, thus reducing the risk for complications related to delayed initiation of therapy.
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Pediatric emergency care · Mar 2022
Characteristics of Pediatric Frequent Users of Emergency Departments in Alberta and Ontario.
Emergency department (ED) volumes have drawn attention to frequent users but less attention has been paid to children. This study examined sociodemographic and ED presentation characteristics of pediatric high-system ED users (HSUs) in 2 provinces in Canada. ⋯ Complex factors underlie pediatric health care utilization decisions. Findings identified conditions to target in interventions to improve health care access and utilization. Future work should engage children and families to design interventions.
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Pediatric emergency care · Mar 2022
A Goat Cadaver as a Cost-effective Resource for Teaching Emergency Medicine Procedures in Kijabe, Kenya.
A pediatric emergency medicine and critical care fellowship was recently developed in Kenya through the University of Nairobi/Kenyatta National Hospital and AIC Kijabe Hospital. As part of this training, a week-long trauma and emergency medicine course was developed with emphasis on trauma and emergency medicine procedures. Given limited resources, we developed a course with simulation of procedures centered around utilization of a goat cadaver. ⋯ A goat cadaver is a cost-effective resource not often considered that can be adequately used to teach several emergency medicine skills by simulation.