Articles: emergency-department.
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2024
Adverse Events in Patients Aged 90 Days or Younger Receiving Ketamine in the Emergency Department.
The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of adverse events of ketamine administration in the pediatric emergency department in patients aged 90 days or younger in order to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of administration in this patient population. ⋯ In this study, 1 patient suffered an adverse event due to laryngospasm during intubation. In the pediatric population, the incidence of adverse events of ketamine administration has been found to be variable in the current literature, ranging from 0.71% to 7.26%. In our study, an adverse event occurred in 1 out of 14 administrations (7.1%). The incidence of adverse events associated with ketamine administration in our patients aged 90 days or less appeared to be similar to that reported in the general pediatric population.
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2024
Characteristics of Intracranial Injuries in Pediatric Patients Following Blunt Head Trauma.
Pediatric head trauma is a frequent reason for presentation to the emergency department. Despite this, there are few reports on specific characteristics and injury patterns in head injured children. The goal of this study was to evaluate head injury patterns in children with blunt head injury and their prevalence by age group. ⋯ Serious injuries requiring intervention were rarely encountered in pediatric patients experiencing blunt head trauma. Mechanisms of injury, type of injury, and rates of intervention varied between developmental age groups.
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We believe that hospital and emergency department (ED) crowding is exacerbated on Mondays because fewer in-patients are discharged on the weekend. In part 1 of 3 concurrent studies, we documented the number of weekend discharges and the extent of hospital and ED crowding on the days following weekends. ⋯ We have demonstrated that there are much fewer discharges on weekends, and this is associated with significant hospital and ED crowding on Mondays. This blocks safe and timely access to beds for newly arriving patients in the ED. These results should spur Canadian hospitals to evaluate their own data and seek solutions to this important problem.
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Pediatric emergency care · Sep 2024
Changes in Urine Drug Screen Sensitivity in Adolescent Opioid Presentations to the Emergency Department.
Adolescent overdoses have been rising over the past decade. Emergency department (ED) visits for both acute overdoses and for adolescents in opioid withdrawal have risen post-COVID. Urine drug screens have poor utility in the ED but are routinely obtained for medical clearance and in the management of patients with substance use disorder. Our primary goal was to measure the sensitivity of the opiate urine drug assay over time in opioid-related presentations to the ED. ⋯ Opiate screen positivity decreased the last 9 years and may reflect wider use of fentanyl among this population starting in 2020.