UMEM Educational Pearls - By Kathleen Stephanos

Neonates are more prone to seizures than children of other ages. Ultimately, a cause of seizures is more likely to be identified in the newborn. Neonatal seizures are subtle and careful attention to repetitive motions of the face, arms or legs should be considered worrisome for seizure. Generalized tonic clonic seizures are rare in this patient population.  

Common Causes:  

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (most common), infection, stroke, non-accidental trauma, intracranial hemorrhage (including from vitamin K deficiency), metabolic disorders, and structural abnormalities.  

Guidelines for Treatment:  

Phenobarbital should be used as first line, unless there is concern for channelopathy based on family history. Some literature does suggest possible benefits of a benzodiazepine in conjunction with phenobarbital for seizure cessation, but care should be given due to high risk for respiratory suppression in neonates.  

For seizures that are unresponsive to first line treatment, consider phenytoin, levetiracetam, midazolam, or lidocaine. 

A trial of pyridoxine can be attempted in patients who are unresponsive to initial measures 

Evaluation:  

Neonatal seizures require a full evaluation, including labs, head imaging (MRI preferred), low threshold for LP post imaging, concern for trauma  

Disposition:  

Neonates presenting with seizures require admission to the hospital for ongoing evaluation and monitoring.

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Hypernatremia in Pediatric patients is less common than other electrolyte abnormalities occurring in <1% of hospitalized patients. The most common cause is water loss, either from poor absorption in the cases of vomiting, diarrhea, malabsorption or insensible losses, or via diabetes insipidus. Congenital disorders may cause decreased thirst receptors resulting in inadequate intake. Finally, excess sodium intake can occur via hypertonic fluids, ingestions or hyperaldosteronism or hypercortisolism. 

Symptoms are often nonspecific- including fatigue, vomiting, hypertonia or hyperreflexia in lower states, but may result in lethargy, mental status changes or seizures as levels approach and exceed 160mmol/L

Treatment is similar to adults - free water deficit should be calculated: 

Total body water (%) x weight (kg) x [(serum Na)/140 - 1]  

Total Body Water (TBW) varies by age:

24-31 weeks- 90%

32-35 weeks - 80%

Term -  12 months - 70%

12 months and up - 60%

IV fluids should be started with a goal of decreasing the sodium level by 0.5 mmol/L/h with close monitoring of sodium levels.

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Continuing with the electrolyte derangements in children: Hyponatremia 

Hyponatremia is defined as a Sodium of less than 135 mmol/L and does not depend on patient age.  

This is the most common electrolyte abnormality in pediatric patients. Excessive free water is often the culprit and is usually thought of in the neonate or infant whose guardians are mixing formula incorrectly. * Additional causes include inappropriate ADH (Antidiuretic hormone) secretion, or in the case of dehydrated patients appropriate ADH secretion. Sodium wasting is rare.  

Total body water (TBW) is important to consider, and preterm neonates have higher TBW (80%) than full term (70%) and 1 year old infants (~60%) putting them at higher risk of hyponatremia.  

Recognizing the volume status of the patient aids in determining the etiology of the hyponatremia and allows for appropriate treatment. This may require obtaining urine sodium.  

Treatment: 

Hypertonic saline should be used only for patients with severe neurologic complications including seizures or altered mentation. In these patients, a hypertonic saline bolus should be given at 3-5 ml/kg of 3% NaCl over 10-15 minutes.  

In hypovolemic patients without neurologic symptoms, fluid resuscitation is the mainstay with caution to increase sodium levels by no more than 6-8mmol/L/day. For euvolemic or hypervolemic patients, fluid restriction is advised.  

Prevention: 

Importantly, when children receive IV fluids, the choice should be made to select isotonic fluids (0.9% NaCl) rather than hypotonic fluids (0.45% NaCl) to avoid iatrogenic development of hyponatremia.  

*Reminder: 2 ounces (about 60 ml) of water should be placed in the bottle, and then 1 full scoop of formula, unless directed to have higher caloric content by their doctor- in which case the amount of formula in the mixture should be higher

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Hyperkalemia is less common than hypokalemia in pediatric patients, though it is not uncommon to have hemolysis in patients who receive heel stick lab work. 

The age of the patient is critical to determining the cutoff for hyperkalemia:

• Premature infant 4.0–6.5 mmol/L
• Newborn 3.9–5.9 mmol/L 
• Infant 4.1–5.3 mmol/L 
• Child 3.4–4.7 mmol/L

Typically, levels up 6.0mmol/L are well tolerated in children, unless the shift is rapid. For any child meeting age related hyperkalemia or who have a known lower prior potassium level should receive an ECG. 

Treatment for hyperkalemia is similar to adults 

Calcium Chloride (20mmg/kg - Max 1g) or Calcium Gluconate (0.5ml/kg - Max 20ml) is given for cardiac stability. 

Albuterol can be given based on weight

Insulin and dextrose can be used with extreme caution and close monitoring for hypoglycemia. (Dextrose should be given as D10% in children under 5 years of age, D25% can be used if  > 5 years old)

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Hypokalemia is a common electrolyte abnormality found in pediatric patients. The cut off for low potassium is based on age, with young infants having higher baseline levels of potassium when compared to older children and adults. The most common cause of hypokalemia in children is GI losses (diarrhea), though other considerations include malnutrition, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, renal abnormalities and medication effects. 

Typically, hypokalemia is well tolerated, and the focus of management is based on treating the underlying cause, rather than repleting the potassium. 

Medications should ONLY be initiated in patients who have potassium levels < 3.0 mmol/L OR with those with levels < 3.5 mmol/L with ECG changes. 

In patients receiving treatment, oral potassium administration is typically recommended unless any of the following criteria are met:

• Potassium level < 2.5 mmol/L
• Inability to tolerate PO
• There are any ECG changes concerning for hypokalemia

In these patients IV potassium should be given (typically KCl at 0.5-1mEq/kg/DOSE - Max of 40 mEq/dose). 

Just like in adults, ALL patients require continuous cardiac monitoring when receiving potassium infusions.

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The supracondylar fracture is one of the most common pediatric fractures. It typically occurs due to a FOOSH injury and is a result of fracture through an area of high growth (and therefore weaker bone structure) in the pediatric distal humerus. Appearance on x-ray depends on the degree of displacement, however in cases without obvious displacement, providers must look for more subtle signs on x-ray. For example, a “sail sign” of the anterior fat pad and appearance of a posterior fat pad indicate a joint effusion and are suggestive of a fracture. However, there are often still equivocal x-rays in children with notable tenderness on exam, and failure to appropriately immobilize these fractures can result in pain and higher risk of injury resulting in displacement. 

In 2021, Varga et al, looked into the ability to assess for supracondylar fractures with ultrasound. This prospective study evaluated 5 locations in the pediatric elbow for signs of fracture. Ultimately, this was able to identify more fractures than x-ray alone, and was a useful tool for equivocal cases. This is not an isolated study, but one of the most comprehensive, looking into ultrasound as a tool for supracondylar fracture identification.

It may be time to grab that ultrasound probe to look for fractures in pediatric patients with pain but an unclear elbow x-ray.

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Intranasal medications are an increasingly popular option for pediatric patients, particularly for analgesia and anxiolysis, with an increasing number of medications being used via the intranasal route of administration. 

Fentanyl has been shown in prior studies to be a safe and effective pain management strategy for children, but is likely under utilized. In sickle cell patients, studies have shown that time to analgesia may improve outcomes including hospitalization. 

In 2023, Rees et al. showed that in the sickle cell patient population IN fentanyl can be a very effective tool for patient's experiencing a Vaso-occlusive episode (VOE). This study looked at 400 children with a mean age of 14.6 years. Of these 19% received IN fentanyl.

Ultimately, the IN fentanyl patient population had a shorter time to initial administration of analgesia and a lower chance of admission to the hospital. 

Notably, this was not a randomized study, so there is limitations in assessment of the causality of the lower discharge rates. However this is a tool that could likely be used more regularly in the pediatric sickle cell patient population to allow for more rapid pain management in the emergency department.

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In early 2023 Newgard et al published an article in JAMA which looked at pediatric readiness in ED's across the county. This study showed that there was a significant increase in pediatric mortality in patients who presented to EDs with lower readiness scores (<87 out of 100) when compared to those with higher readiness scores. And this translated to not just the time in the ED, but up to a year after they are seen in an ill-prepared ED. This number equated to an estimated total of 1,500 preventable deaths in children in the US each year. 

Notably this does NOT look at what designation your hospital has for pediatrics (so being a level 1 pediatric trauma center does not automatically give you any points). This is based on having the physical materials needed for each age group, plans in place for specific patient age groups and evaluations (lower radiation doses for children in CT, using an US before CT for appendicitis evaluation, etc), and a person/people in place to review cases and ensure everyone is up to date on pediatric related training. 

Want to check YOUR score? Go to https://www.pedsready.org/

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It is an often asked question: should I consider the corrected or the chronologic age when determining the need for fever evaluation in a pediatric patient? The 2021 AAP guidelines for the well appearing febrile neonate are widely accepted and apply to neonates under 60 days. These highly practical guidelines are, unfortunately, not applicable to pre-term neonates. The question often becomes what age to use for a pre-term neonate- the age they actually are, or the age they would be if they had completed a full term gestation. 

Hadhud et al attempted to clarify the age utilized in a retrospective review. This looked at febrile 448 pre-term neonates evaluated for fevers. It found that those patients with both a corrected and chronologic age over 3 months had a 2.6% rate of serious bacterial infections or SBI (UTI, bacteremia or meningitis), those with a corrected age under 3 months but a chronologic age over 3 months had a 16.7% rate of SBIs, and those with both a corrected and chronologic age of under 3 months had a 33.3% rate of SBI. 

Overall, these rates of infection are higher than the typically reported in febrile neonates, supporting that pre-term neonates have a much higher risk of infections overall. Ultimately, pre-term neonates should be carefully assessed and a more thorough evaluation is typically warranted in this patient population even if they have reached the generally accepted 60 day marker by chronologic age- use the corrected age.

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This study attempts to answer the age old question: What is the importance of fever in pediatric illnesses?

The authors' goal was to assess if response to antipyretics was associated with bacteremia. This article retrospectively reviewed 6,319 febrile children in whom blood cultures were sent and found that 3.8% had bacteremia.  They then looked at the fever curve in response to antipyretics for these two groups in the emergency department over 4 hours. The study concluded that patients with bacteremia have a higher rate of persistent fever despite antipyretics. It is important to note the limitations of this study. As this was retrospective, it is unclear what clinical findings resulted in blood cultures being sent - most febrile children did not have any drawn (23,999 were excluded for this reason). They did not assess other vital signs, and did not address other bacterial infections (UTI, cellulitis, meningitis, otitis media, etc).  Additionally, while patients with bacteremia did have a higher likelihood of fever, the majority of patients in both groups had fever resolution within 4 hours, and both groups had some children with persistent fevers. 

Overall, this does seem to support the decision to consider obtaining further testing in those children with a persistent fever, but also emphasizes the importance of not using fever resolution alone as support for discharge to home or exclusion of bacteremia from the differential. 

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- Anterior shoulder dislocations often require surgical management in young adults due to recurrence, but are less common in pediatric patients, particularly under age 10

- A study this year showed that 14-16 year olds are similar to 17-20 year olds in recurrence risk (around 38%- when non-operative management), and this is especially true of males.

- The recurrence rate is lower in the 10-13 age group, but there are also less dislocations in this group as well, making this group harder to assess

- Remember to consider both chronologic and bone age if you are deciding to refer a patient for outpatient surgery follow up, bone age is more accurate to determine healing and response to non-operative treatment

- Consider early referral for surgical management and counseling regarding recurrence risk in the 14-16 year age group after anterior shoulder dislocations

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