Archives of disease in childhood
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Clinical decision rules have been derived to distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in the emergency room to avoid unnecessary antibiotic treatments and hospitalisations. ⋯ On our population, the rule derived by Nigrovic et al had the best balance between accuracy and simplicity of manual computation and could help to avoid two thirds of unnecessary antibiotic treatments and hospitalisations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Prednisolone versus dexamethasone in croup: a randomised equivalence trial.
Croup remains a common respiratory problem presenting to emergency departments. A single oral treatment of oral dexamethasone results in improved outcome. Prednisolone has similar pharmacokinetic properties and has a significant advantage in that it is commercially available in liquid preparations. ⋯ A single oral dose of prednisolone is less effective than a single oral dose of dexamethasone in reducing unscheduled re-presentation to medical care in children with mild to moderate croup.