Journal of pediatric surgery
-
Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) has been proposed to be futile in the pediatric patient population. This extreme procedure has survival rates of 0 to 26% in the nonadult population. When taking into consideration that the mechanism of injury is one of the strongest predictors of survival, we hypothesize that the low survival rate in pediatric patients is attributable to a higher rate of blunt trauma compared to their adolescent counterparts. ⋯ In nonadult patients undergoing EDT, adolescents have a higher survival rate than pediatric patients. The pediatric population had a significantly lower incidence of penetrating trauma and higher incidence of head injury. The discrepancy in survival between adolescent and pediatric patients appears to be attributable to differences in mechanism. Therefore, those pediatric patients with penetrating thoracic injuries may still benefit from EDT.
-
Pediatric patients make up approximately 10% of EMS transports nationwide. Previous studies demonstrated that pediatric patients do not consistently have a full set of vitals signs obtained in the prehospital setting [1]. In certain conditions, such as traumatic head injury and shock, unrecognized hypotension and/or hypoxia are associated with increased morbidity and mortality [2,3]. ⋯ Assessment of pediatric vitals signs is a critical part of the evaluation and care of pediatric patients in the prehospital setting. Utah EMS providers improved their practice of documenting four pediatric vital signs over time after educational interventions. Obtaining a BP, especially in younger children, continues to be a challenge. More work remains to achieve the state goal of documenting all vital signs in >90% of pediatric transports.
-
The objective of this study was to review the outcome of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing noncardiac surgery requiring general anesthesia (GA) in a tertiary pediatric center between January 2010 and December 2012. ⋯ Our study shows that procedures requiring GA can be safely conducted on children from any of the three risk groups in a nonspecialist cardiac center provided that there is close liaison and careful planning between the different specialties.