Clinical pediatrics
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Clinical pediatrics · Mar 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialAddition of ipratropium to nebulized albuterol in children with acute asthma presenting to a pediatric office.
A prospective, randomized, double-blind study was conducted to determine whether there was any benefit to the addition of ipratropium to a single nebulized albuterol treatment in infants and children with mild to moderate acute asthma presenting to a pediatric office. There were no significant differences between the albuterol group and the combined albuterol-ipratropium group in the relief of the respiratory distress, disposition of the patients from the office, or in the incidence of relapse. The addition of ipratropium to nebulized albuterol is of no added benefit in the treatment of infants and children with mild-to-moderate acute asthma presenting to a pediatric office.
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Clinical pediatrics · Mar 2003
White blood cell count can aid judicious antibiotic prescribing in acute upper respiratory infections in children.
Fifty percent or more of children with upper respiratory infections (URIs) and nonspecific febrile illnesses (e.g., children febrile, anorexic, decreased activity, irritable) receive unnecessary antibiotics from community-based physicians. This study was undertaken to show that white blood cell (WBC) count testing can aid physicians in avoiding antibiotic prescribing when managing children with URIs, and nonspecific febrile illnesses. A prospective, 3-year study was conducted in a community-based pediatric practice. ⋯ An antibiotic was prescribed for 13 of the 14 children with a WBC count greater than 15,000/mms. With this approach, return office visits in the following 2 weeks were infrequent (13% of 737 patients), and no child had significant bacterial illness that was missed. With selective use of WBC count testing