Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialEffectiveness of oxycodone, ibuprofen, or the combination in the initial management of orthopedic injury-related pain in children.
Orthopedic injuries comprise a majority of the indications for analgesia in the emergency department. Oxycodone and ibuprofen have demonstrated efficacy for this indication, but no studies have compared these drugs in children. Our objective was to investigate the effectiveness of oxycodone, ibuprofen, or their combination for the management of orthopedic injury-related pain in children. ⋯ Oxycodone, ibuprofen, and the combination all provide effective analgesia for mild-to-moderate orthopedic injuries in children. Oxycodone or ibuprofen, alone, can be given, thereby avoiding the increase in adverse effects when given together.
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2007
Development of a novel measure of overcrowding in a pediatric emergency department.
Emergency department (ED) overcrowding has been quantified with a scale that reflects the degree of overcrowding (National ED Overcrowding Scale, or NEDOCS) in general academic EDs. However, validity of the 5-question NEDOCS scale has not been established for a pediatric ED. Our primary objectives were to validate the NEDOCS model in our institution's pediatric ED and explore the possibility of another pediatric ED overcrowding model that would be better than the NEDOCS model. ⋯ Overcrowding is quantifiable in a pediatric ED. Although the NEDOCS performed well in the pediatric ED, it was outperformed by other variables and other variable combinations. In this pediatric ED, a combination of 2 variables, total registered patients and patients in the waiting room, was a better model than the NEDOCS score for quantifying pediatric ED overcrowding.
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Methamphetamine abuse is reaching epidemic proportions. As this occurs, the likelihood of accidental poisoning in children increases. We sought to evaluate the presentation, treatment, and outcome of pediatric methamphetamine exposures reported to the California Poison Control System. ⋯ In this series of children, methamphetamine exposure was strongly associated with agitation that was successfully treated with benzodiazepines. Tachycardia was common, although hypertension and hyperthermia were not. Laboratory studies were not routinely recorded. The clinical significance of elevated creatine kinase concentrations recorded in 3 children is unclear.
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2007
Case ReportsLate-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia mimicking bronchiolitis.
We report a case of a late-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) in an otherwise healthy infant initially presenting to the emergency department with wheezing and respiratory distress. Late-presenting CDH can manifest a vast array of clinical symptoms and therefore may frequently masquerade as other more common pediatric entities. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is essential in the management of late-presenting CDH; patients may be critically ill at presentation, and selection of appropriate therapeutic interventions may avoid potentially life-threatening complications. In this case report, we seek to inform emergency physicians about this rare, but serious, disorder.