Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Serum neuron-specific enolase as a predictor of intracranial lesions in children with head trauma: a pilot study.
To determine the reliability of serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels in predicting intracranial lesions (ICL) in children with blunt head trauma (HT). ⋯ These results suggest that serum NSE may be a useful screening tool for predicting ICL in children with blunt head trauma. However, the NSE alone was neither sensitive nor specific in predicting all patients with ICL.
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Comparative Study
Should pediatric emergency care be decentralized?: an out-of-hospital destination model for critically ill children.
A time-to-initial-stabilization model for out-of-hospital destinations of critically ill children (CICs) was developed. Application of this model to assess the impact of changes in different parameters of an emergency medical services for children (EMSC) system is described. ⋯ An out-of-hospital destination model has been developed with the ability to modify multiple EMSC system variables. Application of this model demonstrates the shortest times to stabilization of critically ill children occur in systems that maximize the number of hospitals that meet EDAP standards and decentralize pediatric emergency care.
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To compare the utilization rates of CT scans in investigating minor head trauma in children in Canada, to identify the injuries determined by these scans, and to identify clinical findings that are highly associated with its diagnosis and the injury itself. ⋯ Although there is a significant difference in the utilization of CT scans to investigate minor head trauma in children across Canada, there is no significant difference in the frequency of head injuries in these patients. This suggests that it may be possible to determine clinical criteria that are predictive of a head injury in these patients.