UMEM Educational Pearls - By Jenny Guyther

The NEXUS criteria is widely applied to adults who present with neck pain due to trauma.  While this study did include about 2000 pediatric patients, there were not enough young children to draw definitive conclusions.  For more information on the evaluation of the cervical spine, see Dr. Rice's pearl from 9/7/12.  A 2003 study piloted an algorithm for cervical spine clearance in children < 8 years.

Patients were spine immobilized if: unconscious, abnormal neurological exam, history of transient neurological symptoms, significant mechanism of injury, neck pain, focal neck tenderness or inability to assess based on distracting injury (extremity or facial fractures, open wound, thoracic injuries, or abdominal injuries), physical exam findings of neck trauma, unreliable exam due to substance abuse, significant trauma to the head or face, or inconsolable children.

When the 2 pathways (see attached) were implemented, there was a decrease in time to cervical spine clearance.  There were no missed injuries in the study period prior to implementation of the pathway or once it was implemented.  There was no significant difference in the amount of xrays, CT scans or MRIs.

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Attachments

• 1409192317_Cspine_clearence_pathway.docx (52 Kb)

6-7% of kids presenting with upper respiratory symptoms will meet the definition for ABS.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reviewed the literature and developed clinical practice guideline regarding the diagnosis and management of ABS in children and adolescents.

The AAP defines ABS as: persistent nasal discharge or daytime cough > 10 days OR a worsening course after initial improvement OR severe symptom onset with fever > 39C and purulent nasal discharge for 3 consecutive days.

No imaging is necessary with a normal neurological exam.

Treatment includes amoxicillin with or without clauvulinic acid (based on local resistance patterns) or observation for 3 days.

Optimal duration of antibiotics has not been well studied in children but durations of 10-28 days have been reported.

If symptoms are worsening or there is no improvement, change the antibiotic.

There is not enough evidence to make a recommendation on decongestants, antihistamines or nasal irrigation.

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Up to 26% of patients with tympanostomy tubes (PE tubes) can suffer from clinically manifested otorrhea.  This is thought to be the result of acute otitis media that is draining through the tube. Previous small studies suggested that antibiotic ear drops are as effective or more effective and with less side effects for its treatment.  This study compared treatment with antibiotic/glucocorticoid ear drops (hydrocortisone-bacitracin-colistin) to oral Augmentin (30 mg/kg/TID) to observation for 2 weeks.

Study population: Children 1-10 years with otorrhea for up to 7 days in the Netherlands
Exclusion criteria included: T > 38.5 C, antibiotics in previous 2 weeks, PE tubes placed within 2 weeks, previous otorrhea in past 4 weeks, 3 or more episodes of otorrhea in past 6 months
Patient recruitment: ENT and PMD approached pt with PE tubes and they were told to call if otorrhea developed and a home visit would be arranged
Study type: open-label, pragmatic, randomized control trial
Primary outcome: Treatment failure defined as the presence of otorrhea observed otoscopically
Secondary outcome: based on parental diaries of symptoms, resolution and recurrence over 6 months

Results: After 2 weeks, only 5% of the ear drop group compared to 44% of the oral antibiotic group and 55% of the observation group still had otorrhea.  There was not a significant difference between those treated with oral antibiotics and those that were observed.  Otorrhea
lasted 4 days in the ear drop group compared to 5 days with oral antibiotics and 12 days with observation (all statistically significant).

Key differences:  The antibiotic dosing and choice of ear drops are based on availability and local organism susceptibility.

Bottom line:  For otorrhea in the presence of PE tubes, ear drops (with a non-aminoglycoside antibiotic and a steroid) may be more beneficial than oral antibiotics or observation.

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Mental health-related visits account for 1.6–6% of ED encounters.  Patients with acute psychosis are often brought to the ED for clearance prior to psychiatric evaluation.  Is this necessary?

Background: Several adult studies have shown that only 0–4% of patients with isolated psychiatric complaints have organic diagnoses requiring urgent treatment.  Routine ED laboratory testing in adults is low yield still, with one study identifying abnormalities in only 2 of 352 patients—both mild hypokalemia.  A pediatric study found that 207 of 209 patients were medically cleared.

This study was a retrospective review of pediatric psychiatric patients presenting to a an urban California hospital.  They examined 798 patients who had an involuntary psychiatric hold placed by a psychiatric mobile response team.
 

• 72 (9.1%) were determined to require medical screening (based on patient complaints).
• Only 35 (4.4%) holds were found to require further medical care prior to psychiatric hospitalization.
• Total charges for laboratory assessments, secondary ambulance transfers and wages for sitters were $1,241,295 or US$17,240 per patient requiring a medical screen.
• Patients were in the ED for an average of 7 h with a cumulative time of 5538 hours.

The authors concluded that few pediatric patients brought to the ED on an involuntary hold required a medical screen and perhaps use of basic criteria in the prehospital setting to determine who required a medical screen (altered mental status, ingestion, hanging, traumatic injury, unrelated medical complaint, sexual assault) could have led to significant savings.

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Scabies is considered by the WHO to be one of the main neglected diseases with approximately 300 million cases worldwide each year. One third of cases of scabies seen by dermatologists are in kids less than 16 years old. The belief had been that presentation varies by age.  One French study reported a first time miss rate of more than 41% and an overall diagnostic delay of 62 days.
 

A prospective, multi center observational study of patients with confirmed scabies sought to determine common phenotypes in children. All patients were seen by dermatologists in France and administered standard questionnaires.  They were divided into 3 age groups, <2 years, 2-15 years and > 15 years.  323 patients were included.

The study found that: 
-infants were more likely to have facial involvement and nodules, especially on the back and axilla
-relapse was more common in < 15 year olds - this was hypothesized to be due to poor compliance with treatment to the head
-family members with itch, or planter or scalp involvement were independently associated with diagnosis of scabies in kids < 2 years
-burrows were seen in 78%, nodules in 67% and vesicles of 43% of patients (see photo)
-itching was absent in up to 10% of patients

Bottom line:  Have a high suspicion for scabies in any rash.

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Attachments

• 1404180657_scabies_figures.docx (1,793 Kb)

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Passive leg raise (PLR) has been studied in adults as a bedside tool to predict volume responsiveness (see previous pearls from 5/7/13 and 6/17/2008). Can this be applied to children?
 
A single center prospective study looked at 40 intensive care patients ranging in age from 1 month to 12.5 years.  They used a noninvasive monitoring system that could measure heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output.  These parameters were measured at a baseline, after PLR, after another baseline and after a 10 ml/kg bolus.
 
Overall, changes in the cardiac index varied with PLR.  However, there was a statistically significant correlation in children over 5 years showing an increase in cardiac index with PLR and with a fluid bolus.
 
Bottom line:  In children older then 5 years, PLR can be a quick bedside tool to assess for fluid responsiveness, especially if worried about fluid overload and in an under served area.

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Question

Case: A 3 year 9 month female presents with fever to 39.4 C and intermittent abdominal pain worsening over 2 days.  The patient had been tolerating food and had no change in her bowel habits.  Based on the imaging below, what is your diagnosis and treatment?

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Attachments

• 1311100901_657139537.jpg (603 Kb)
• 1311100902_657148738.jpg (108 Kb)
• 1311100912_US_intususseption.jpg (3,893 Kb)

Pediatric patients with an isolated skull fracture and normal neurological exam have a low risk of neurosurgical intervention and outpatient follow up may be appropriate (assuming no suspicion of abuse and a reliable family).  In a study published in 2011, a retrospective review over a 5 year period at a level 1 trauma center showed that 1 out of 171 admitted patients with isolated skull fractures developed vomiting.  This patient had a follow up CT showing a small extra-axial hematoma that did not require intervention.  58 patients were discharged from the ED within 4 hours.

You can also check out another recent article published in Annals of Emergency Medicine on the same topic this month!

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We have learned how to diagnose compartment syndrome in adults, but how do you determine the early warning signs in a nonverbal or even frightened child?  

Rising compartment pressures are related to increasing anxiety and agitation in children.  A Boston study in 2001 showed that increasing pain medication requirements were detected 7 hours earlier than a vascular exam change.  90% of the patients with compartment syndrome in this study reported pain, but only 70% had another ‘P” (pallor, parasthesia, paralysis or pulselessness).

This has led to the proposal of the 3 “A”s for early identification of compartment syndrome in children: increasing anxiety, agitation and analgesia requirement.

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A facial laceration on a child can present a unique challenge which is not limited to the initial visit.  The traditional teaching has been to use nonabsorbable sutures and have the patient return in 5 days for removal.  A recent study compared the cosmetic outcome of linear facial lacerations 1 to 5 cm that were closed with either Ethicon fast absorbing surgical gut or monocryl nonabsorbable sutures.  Patients were randomized and returned to the ED in 4-7 days and 3-4 months. Scars were assessed by caregivers and blinded physicians.  Results showed that caregivers preferred absorbable sutures.  Visual analog scores as given by caregivers were not statistically different between the 2 groups at the 3 month mark.  The blinded physicians did give better cosmetic outcome scores to the absorbable suture group which differs from previous studies that had shown equivocal results.  Of note, all absorbable sutures were no longer visible after 14 days.

Bottom line:  Try absorbable sutures the next time you are suturing a child and the parents may be happier and you will not have to try and take out your sutures from a squirming, screaming child.

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Lactate is commonly used in the adult ED when evaluating septic patients, but there is a lack of literature validating its use in the pediatric ED.  Pediatric studies have suggested that in the ICU population, elevated lactate is a predictor of mortality and may be the earliest marker of death.
 
A retrospective chart review over a 1 year period showed that one elevated serum lactate correlated with increased pulse, respiratory rate, white blood cell count and platelets.  Serum lactate had a negative correlation with BUN, serum bicarbinate and age.  Elevated lactate levels were higher for admitted patients. However, the mean serum lacate level was not statistically different between those diagnosed with sepsis and those that were not.
 
The study included 289 patients less then 18 years who had both blood cultures and lactate drawn.  This community hospital had a sepsis protocol in place that automatically ordered a lactate with blood cultures.  Only previously healthy children were included.
 
The study is limited by its small sample size and overall low lactate levels.  Despite having a protocol in place, only 39% of patients who had blood cultures drawn had lactate levels available for analysis.  The mean serum lacate in this study was 2.04 mM indicating that the study population may not have been sick enough to determine mortality implications.  There were no serial measurements.

 
Bottom line:  Consider measuring serum lacate in your pediatric patient with suspected sepsis.  Pediatric ICU literature does suggest that an serum lactate as low as 3mM is associated with an increased mortality in the ICU.

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Infant lumbar puncture is often difficut and may require repeated attempts.  The traditional body positioning is lateral decubitus.  Previous studies have examined the saftey of having the patient in a sitting position, and neonatal studies have suggested that the subarachnoid space increases in size as the patient is moved to the seated position.  A study by Lo et al published last month looked to see if the same held true in infants.
 
50 healthy infants less then 4 months old had the subarachnoid space measured by ultrasound between L3-L4 in 3 positions: lateral decubitus, 45 degree tilt and sitting upright.
 
This study found that the size of the subarachnoid space did not differ significantly between the 3 positions.  Authors postulated that a reason for increase sitting LP success rate that had been reported in anestesia literature with tilt position could be due to other factors such as increased CSF pressure, intraspinous space widening or improved landmark identification.

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Acute ischemic stroke occurs in 3.3/100,000 children per year.  Up to 30% of these are caused by varicella.  This can be diagnosed if the patient has had varicella infection within the past 12 months, has a unilateral stenosis of a great vessel, and has a positive PCR or IgG from the CSF.

Treatment includes anticoagulation, acyclovir for at least 7 days and steroids for 3-5 days.

Outcome is normally good and spontaneous improvement can be seen.

Inflammation of other arteries, including other areas of the brain, can also be seen.  Treatment options for this can include high dose glucocorticoids and possibly immunosuppresive agents.

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Children frequently present with "pink eye" to the ED.  When they do, parents often expect antibiotics.  How many of these kids actually need them?  Previous studies have shown approximately 54% of acute conjunctivitis was bacterial, but antibiotics were prescribed in 80-95% of cases.

A prospective study in a suburban children's hospital published in 2007, showed that 87% of the cases during the study period were bacterial.  The most common type of bacteria was nontypeable H. influenza followed by S. pneumoniae.

Topical antibiotic treatment has been shown to improve remission rates by 6-10 days.

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Epidemiology:

Trampoline injuries doubled between 1991 and 1996, increasing from 39,000 injuries per year to more then 83,000 injuries per year.  Injury rates and trampoline sales peaked in 2004 and have been decreasing since; however, hospitalization rates are still between 3% and 14%.

Risk Factors:

¾ of injuries occur when multiple people are on the trampoline at once

Smaller participants were 14x more likely to be injured then their heavier playmates

Falls account for 27-39% of all injuries

Springs and frames account for 20% of injuries

Up to ½ of injuries occur despite adult supervision

Injury types:

Lower extremity injuries are more common than upper extremity

Head and neck injuries accounted for 10-17% of trampoline injuries

Unique Injuries:

Proximal tibial fractures

Manubriosternal dislocations and sternal injuries

Vertebral artery dissection

Atlanto-axial subluxation

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Conventional pediatric nasal cannula can safely deliver up to 4 lpm but are limited by cooling and drying of the airway. This leads to decreased airway patency, nasal mucosal injury, bleeding and possibly increase in coagulase negative staph infections.

HFNC delivers flow up to 40 lpm with 95-100% relative humidity at a controlled temperature. In infants, the initial flow rate is set between 2-4 lpm and can be increased to 8 lpm. Older children and can be started at 10 lpm and increased as high as 40 lpm. Oxygen is also adjustable.

Studies have shown improved comfort, respiratory rate and oxygenation compared to nasal CPAP.

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