Clinical pediatrics
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Palivizumab is an antirespiratory syncytial virus humanized murine monoclonal antibody that has been shown to reduce the frequency of hospitalization rates of preterm infants infected with respiratory syncytial virus. The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved palivizumab for single-vial dosage; however, if multidose use of single-use vials is proven safe, significant cost savings for respiratory syncytial virus prophylaxis would result. A total of 446 palivizumab vials administered to patients during the respiratory syncytial virus seasons of 2004-2006 were examined for bacterial contamination. ⋯ The cost benefits of multidose palivizumab vials netted a potential average savings of $37 410 per year in this institution. This study suggests that multidose distribution is a possible solution for cost savings with no increased risk to patients. Secondary to the low incidence of complications, the safety of this practice will require a larger study.
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A prospective case-control study was conducted in a major tertiary care hospital for children during June 2005 to May 2006 on children aged between 3 months and 5 years to compare serum zinc levels in 38 cases of simple febrile seizure and 38 age-matched controls. The mean serum zinc levels in cases and controls were 32.17 and 87.6 microg/dL, respectively. This difference was statistically significant ( P < .001). We conclude that Indian children with febrile seizure had low serum zinc levels, and zinc supplementation to reduce the incidence of febrile seizure should be investigated.
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Clinical pediatrics · Mar 2008
Pediatric hospitalist comanagement of surgical patients: challenges and opportunities.
Hospitalists are increasingly providing comanagement of surgical patients. Limited data published regarding hospitalist comanagement of adult surgical patients have suggested that these partnerships may help improve outcomes and limit resource usage. Pediatric surgical comanagement programs at community hospitals will face different clinical challenges than those at tertiary referral pediatric centers. Pediatric hospitalists providing surgical comanagement must also address specific administrative issues including program structure, communication, staffing, and finances.
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Clinical pediatrics · Jan 2008
Web sites and pediatric residency training programs in the United States.
The purpose of this study was to describe the use of Web sites by pediatric residency programs in the United States, the information provided on those Web sites, and the degree of user-friendliness in navigating the Web sites. Most residency programs (137/197) listed a Web address; 96% (131) of these sites were accessible and were analyzed. Most programs (98/131) provided information for 11 to 20 content items, 11 programs described less than 10 content items, and the remaining 22 programs listed 21 to 42 content items on their Web sites. ⋯ Although 95% and 96% of positions were filled through match in programs with user-friendly Web sites and programs with extremely user-friendly Web sites, respectively, these were not statistically different from the programs with less user-friendly Web sites, where only 88% of positions were filled through the match. The majority of pediatric residency training programs have Web sites. Most of these Web sites were user-friendly and provided a variety of information sought by applicants.
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Clinical pediatrics · Jan 2008
Initiating a hospital-wide pediatric sedation service provided by emergency physicians.
Advanced diagnostic procedures, imaging studies, and therapeutic procedures have combined to substantially increase the need for pediatric sedation. The objective of this study is to describe the initiation of a hospital-wide (nonemergency department) pediatric deep sedation service provided by pediatric emergency physicians. This article describes a consecutive cohort of pediatric patients undergoing deep sedation provided by a new hospital sedation service (excluding the emergency department). ⋯ The risk of adverse events was low. This case series of pediatric deep sedation patients describes the initiation of a hospital-wide pediatric sedation service utilizing pediatric emergency physicians, which has resulted in improved patient care, and improved financial performance of several hospital units. The risk of adverse events is low if proper precautions are taken.