Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2003
Notifying emergency department patients of negative test results: pitfalls of passive communication.
Many emergency departments that perform a high volume of group A Streptococcus throat cultures inform patients or parents that unless they are notified of a positive result they can assume that their throat culture result is negative. Thus, positive throat culture results are communicated actively and negative results are communicated passively. We sought to determine the effectiveness and safety of such a system. ⋯ Passive communication of negative throat culture results to patients seen in the emergency department can be unreliable. Active communication of both positive and negative results may improve patient knowledge and satisfaction and ensure appropriate therapy, but in the absence of automated notification systems, would be resource intensive.
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To determine the type of weapons confiscated from an urban pediatric hospital and its affiliated general hospital. ⋯ While more weapons were confiscated at the larger general hospital, the traditional sense that children's hospitals are at minimal risk is unjustified. The alarming number of lethal concealed weapons confiscated from both institutions demonstrates the importance of deterrent security measures, including the use of metal detectors to protect families and staff.
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2003
Prolonged partial thromboplastin times in children with fever and petechiae without bacteremia or sepsis.
In a prior uncontrolled study, 23% of children with fever and petechiae without bacteremia or sepsis had a prolonged partial thromboplastin time (PTT). We attempted to validate this finding by comparing the PTTs of children with fever and petechiae who were neither septic nor bacteremic with those of children without fever and petechiae. ⋯ Children with fever and petechiae without bacteremia or sepsis are more likely than controls to have prolonged partial thromboplastin time.
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Pediatric emergency care · Jun 2003
Validation of a decision rule identifying febrile young girls at high risk for urinary tract infection.
To validate a previously published clinical decision rule to predict risk of urinary tract infection in febrile young girls. ⋯ A simple clinical decision rule previously developed to predict urinary tract infection based on five risk factors performs similarly in a different patient population.