Clinical pediatrics
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Clinical pediatrics · Dec 2014
Acute pediatric musculoskeletal pain management in North America: a practice variation survey.
Children's musculoskeletal (MSK) injury pain remains poorly managed. This survey of pediatric emergency physicians and orthopedic surgeons assessed analgesia administration practices and discharge advice for children with acute MSK pain; 683 responses were received. Ibuprofen was the most commonly reported analgesic used in the emergency department (52%) and at discharge (68%). ⋯ Younger physicians and recent graduates chose acetaminophen and codeine more than older and more experienced colleagues, who preferred ibuprofen and non-codeine containing opioid compounds (P < .001 and .006, respectively). Orthopedic surgeons reported less ibuprofen use than pediatric emergency physicians (P < .001). Choice of analgesic agents is heterogeneous among physicians and is influenced by pain severity, child's age, and physician characteristics.
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Clinical pediatrics · Dec 2014
Emergency department visits for mental health conditions among US children, 2001-2011.
We examined mental health-related visits to emergency departments (EDs) among children from 2001 to 2011. We used the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey-Emergency Department, 2001-2011 to identify visits of children 6 to 20 years old with a reason-for-visit code or ICD-9-CM diagnosis code reflecting mental health issues. National percentages of total visits, visit counts, and population rates were calculated, overall and by race, age, and sex. ⋯ Counts increased 55,000 visits per year and rates increased from 13.6 visits/1000 population in 2001 to 25.3 visits/1000 in 2011 (P < .01 for all trends). Black children (all ages) had higher visit rates than white children and 13- to 20-year-olds had higher visit rates than children 6 to 12 years old (P < .01 for all comparisons). Differences between groups did not decline over time.