Pediatric emergency care
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Hyperammonemia is a serious clinical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In the pediatric population, this is often caused by urea cycle disorders, acute liver failure, or other less common underlying etiologies. ⋯ Given the risk of neurologic damage, timely identification and management of hyperammonemia is critical and includes initial resuscitation, early consultation with subspecialists, and initiation of appropriate therapies. It is important for pediatric emergency medicine providers to understand the clinical findings, causes, diagnosis, and management of hyperammonemia because they play a key role in the provision of effective, multidisciplinary care of these patients.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2024
Multicenter StudyElevated High-Sensitivity Troponin and NT-proBNP Values in Febrile Children.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent rise of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children have raised interest in high-sensitivity troponin (hs-TnT) and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) because these have been found to be elevated in many cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Our aim was to study hs-TnT and NT-proBNP concentrations in febrile children not affected by COVID-19. ⋯ Concentrations of hs-TnT and NT-proBNP are often elevated in febrile children with different causes of fever. Concentrations were higher in children admitted to the PICU than in children attending the ED, and seem to reflect disease severity rather than the underlying cause of fever.
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Pediatric emergency care · Feb 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialCATCH IT: The Effect of Bladder Ultrasound in Decreasing the Time to Collect a Clean-Catch Urine Sample in the Nontoilet-Trained Child: A Randomized Control Trial.
Clean-catch urine is essential in the investigation of an unwell child but can unfortunately be difficult to obtain in nontoilet-trained children. To this end, we compared the difference in time taken to collect clean-catch urine in nontoilet-trained children via the use of point-of-care ultrasound and traditional methods. ⋯ We found that there was a statistically and clinically significant reduction in mean time taken to collect clean-catch urine in nontoilet-trained children using point-of-care ultrasound compared with the traditional watch and wait method.