Acta Clin Belg
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The paediatric population aged 1-3 years represents about 80% of patients presenting with foreign body ingestion. Only 10 to 20% of ingested foreign bodies will fail to pass through the entire gastrointestinal tract. The decision to remove them is based on location, size and nature of the foreign body. In particular, ingestion of multiple magnets or magnets and other metallic objects require a more aggressive management.
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The Bacterial Meningitis Score (BMS) is considered as the rule with the highest sensitivity to safely distinguish between aseptic and bacterial meningitis (BM). ⋯ Our study reports a lower sensitivity of the BMS than observed in previous validation studies. We suggest to include the BMS in a decision tree aiming to optimize the ordering of laboratory investigations including viral and bacterial PCR testing in any child with CSF pleocytosis.
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Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have shown to improve survival after cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) in many, but not all clinical settings. A recent study reported that the use of AEDs in-hospital did not improve survival. The current retrospective study reports the results of an in-hospital AED programme in a university hospital, and focuses on the quality of AED use. ⋯ The literature data, supported by our results, indicate that in-hospital AED programmes are unlikely to improve survival after CPA. Moreover, their use is often suboptimal. Therefore, if AEDs are introduced in a hospital, initial training, frequent retraining and close follow-up are essential.