Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 1992
Comparative StudyRacial differences in childhood hospitalized pedestrian injuries.
This research provides an epidemiologic analysis of pedestrian-related injury discharges from The Children's Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, utilizing a case-control design. Evidence is provided supporting the racial disproportionality of serious, nonfatal pedestrian injuries in children. ⋯ This racial association with pedestrian injury remained significant when the data were stratified by payment class, a proposed surrogate measure of socioeconomic status (adjusted odds ratio = 2.59). A catalog of harmful environmental factors that may be pervasive in black children's lives is provided as an aid in planning intervention programs and their evaluation.
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThe use of nebulized albuterol in wheezing infants.
Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled protocol, we evaluated the efficacy of nebulized albuterol in the treatment of infants aged 0 to 24 months who presented to the emergency department with wheezing. Twenty-five infants were randomly assigned to receive two identical treatments of either nebulized albuterol (0.15 mg/kg) or placebo (saline). Assessment after each treatment included a wheeze and retraction score, respiratory and heart rates, and pulse oximetry. ⋯ After one treatment, there was an initial decrease in oxygen saturation in the albuterol group, which improved after the second treatment. There were no significant differences between the two groups in heart rate or respiratory rate. This study supports the use of nebulized albuterol in the treatment of wheezing infants in the emergency department.
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 1992
Comparative StudyBlood culture results as determinants in the organism identification of bacterial meningitis.
The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis depends on a lumbar puncture (LP). Sometimes, antibiotics are administered before a LP that is delayed owing to prior need for computerized tomography (CT) scan, technical problems, inability to obtain consent, or an unstable patient. We examined the accuracy of blood culture, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Gram's stain, and antigen detection by latex for organism identification of meningitis. ⋯ Blood culture identified the bacteria in 94% of those patients with Haemophilus influenzae meningitis, and this yield increased to 100% when patients who had been pretreated with antibiotics were excluded. The combination of blood culture, CSF Gram's stain, and/or latex agglutination identified the causative bacteria in 92% of patients with meningitis. Blood culture, CSF Gram's stain, and latex agglutination are useful in identifying the organism causing pediatric meningitis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)