Ital J Pediatr
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Male circumcision (MC) is one of the oldest and most common operations performed all over the world. It can be performed at different ages, using different surgical techniques, for different religious, cultural and medical reasons. Our aim is to examine and compare the various methods of analgesia and different surgical procedures reported in literature that are applied in infant MC. ⋯ Only 3 papers studied groups of at least 20 babies each with the use of validated pain scales. Data show a dramatic decrease of pain with dorsal penile nerve block, plus acetaminophen associated to oral sucrose or topic analgesic cream. However, no procedure has been found to definetively eliminate pain; the gold standard procedure to make MC totally painfree has not yet been established.
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To investigate the effectiveness of IgM-enriched immunoglobulins (IgM-eIVIG) in reducing short-term mortality of neonates with proven late-onset sepsis. ⋯ This hypothesis-generator study shows that IgM-eIVIG is an effective adjuvant therapy in VLBW infants with proven sepsis. Randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm this pilot observation.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Application of a score system to evaluate the risk of malnutrition in a multiple hospital setting.
An increased but unpredictable risk of malnutrition is associated with hospitalization, especially in children with chronic diseases. We investigated the applicability of Screening Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids), an instrument proposed to estimate the risk of malnutrition in hospitalized children. We also evaluated the role of age and co-morbidities as risk for malnutrition. ⋯ The STRONGkids is easy to administer. It is highly sensitive but not specific. It may be used as a very preliminary screening tool to be integrated with other clinical data in order to reliably predict the risk of malnutrition.
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Comparative Study
Association between radiological findings and severity of community-acquired pneumonia in children.
There are few published data concerning radiological findings and their relationship with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity. The aim if this study was to assess radiographic findings in children with CAP of different severity in order to evaluate whether some parameters are associated with severe CAP. ⋯ This study shows that radiological findings such as a multifocal bilateral distribution, the simultaneous involvement of at least three sites, and right hilar consolidation are associated with severe CAP in otherwise healthy children, and could be considered markers of disease severity in children with CAP.
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Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a reflection of platelet size, which has been shown to correlate with platelet function and activation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MPV could be used for the diagnostic tool of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and for making the decision for hospitalization. ⋯ Our findings suggest that MPV may be a useful predictor for diagnosed CAP but low specificity and NPV rates may lead to the false-negative diagnosis.