Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2004
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialOropharyngeal aspiration in pediatric patients with endotracheal intubation.
To determine the prevalence and factors associated with oropharyngeal aspiration in pediatric patients submitted to mechanical ventilation and endotracheal intubation. ⋯ Aspiration around the tracheal tube is a frequent finding (28%) in children undergoing mechanical ventilation. The frequent swallowing movements and the orotracheal intubation route were significantly associated with aspiration. These results suggest that the nasotracheal intubation route could be recommended as the first choice for reducing this potential clinical complication.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2004
Comparative StudyGender and age effects on outcome after pediatric traumatic brain injury.
To evaluate whether girls have better outcomes after traumatic brain injury than boys. ⋯ There is evidence from this large study that girls do not have a better outcome after pediatric traumatic brain injury than boys, with a suggestion that girls may do worse.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2004
Case ReportsTerlipressin as rescue therapy for intractable hypotension during neonatal septic shock.
To report the successful use of terlipressin in an 8-day-old infant for treatment of intractable hypotension caused by septic shock. ⋯ There is circumstantial evidence that the administration of terlipressin caused the increase in blood pressure. We suggest that terlipressin should be considered as rescue therapy when high-dose catecholamine therapy does not result in sufficient perfusion pressure. Further investigation is needed to prove terlipressin's effectiveness and safety in infants and children.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2004
Assessing medication prescribing errors in pediatric intensive care units.
To evaluate a matrix for determining the predominant type, cause category, and rate of medication prescribing errors, and to explore the effectiveness of hospital-based improvement initiatives among pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). ⋯ A benchmark for medication prescribing errors in the PICU was identified among nine children's hospitals. The methodology was successful in accounting for site-specific differences with regard to identifying and documenting errors as well as reporting results of improvement initiatives. Furthermore, the methodology employed was generalizable in the identification of predominant prescribing error types, which helped to track individual hospital improvement initiative development and implementation. Overall improvement in prescribing error rates was noted; however, considerable variation in the success of improvement initiatives was noted and bears further attention.