UMEM Educational Pearls - By Jenny Guyther

The leading cause of death in the US for those aged 16 to 24 years is motor vehicle collisions (MVCs).  Teen drivers are more likely than any other age group to be involved in an MVC that result in injury or fatality.  Texting while driving, nighttime driving, inexperienced driving, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs may play a role in these collisions.

Can anticipatory guidance related to safe driving be done in the ED?  YES!

This study implemented a toolkit that contained a copy of the driving law, a sample parent-teen driving contract and statistics on teen driving injuries. Post toolkit questionnaires showed that both teens and their guardians learned new information.

Bottom line: Engage in anticipatory guidance in the ED with teens and their parents about seatbelt use, the dangers of driving under the influence and local driving laws.

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Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) is the second most common ambulatory surgery performed in the US.  Children younger than 3 years, children with craniofacial disorders or sleep apnea are typically admitted overnight as studies have shown an increase rate of airway or respiratory complications in this population.

The most common late complications include bleeding and dehydration.  Other complications include nausea, respiratory issues and pain.

Post-operatively, the overall 30-day emergency department return rate is up to 13.3%.  Children ages 2 and younger were more likely to present to the ED.  There is significantly higher risk of dehydration for children under 4 years.  Children over the age of 6 had significantly higher bleeding risk and need for reoperation for hemorrhage control.

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Urinary retention in pediatrics is defined as the inability to void for more than 12 hours in the presence of a palpable bladder or a urine volume greater than expected for age.

Maximum urine volume calculation for age:  (age in years + 2) x 30ml.

Causes of urinary retention include mechanical obstruction, infection, fecal impaction, neurological disorders, gynecological disorders and behavioral problems.

The distribution is bimodal occurring between 3 and 5 years and 10 to 13 years.

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Streptococcal pharyngitis is common in the pediatric population however in children younger than 3 years, group A streptococcus (GAS) is a rare cause of sore throat and sequela including acute rheumatic fever are very rare.  Inappropriate testing leads to increased healthcare and unnecessary exposure to antibiotics.

The national guidelines published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America do NOT recommend GAS testing in children less than the age of 3 years unless the patient meets clinical criteria and has a home contact with documented GAS.

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-       Tibial tubercle avulsion fractures are rare and pediatrics, accounting for less than 3% of all epiphyseal injuries in children ages 11-17 years. 

-       The typical mechanism is a sudden forceful quadriceps contraction.  Patients present with sudden pain after sprinting or jumping with pain, bruising, deformity or swelling over the tibial tubercle and with a decrease ability to extend the leg. 

-       10 to 20% of cases result in anterior compartment syndrome related to the rupture of the anterior tibial recurrent artery.

-       Although directly measured intra-compartmental pressures can facilitate the diagnosis of compartment syndrome, interpretation of these values can be challenging with healthy children having higher average lower leg compartment pressures than adults.  Treatment of subsequent compartment syndrome is often based on a high index of suspicion.

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Gunshot injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population.  The Pediatric Trauma Society supports the use of tourniquets in severe extremity trauma.  The Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) that is commonly used in adults has not been prospectively tested in children.  This study used 60 children ages 6 through 16 years and applied a CAT to the upper arm and thigh while monitoring the peripheral pulse pressure by Doppler.  The CAT was successful in occluding arterial blood flow in all of the upper extremities and in 93% of the lower extremities.

Bottom line: The combat application tourniquet can stop arterial bleeding in the school aged child.

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Question

-Benzodiazepines alone are effective in terminating status epilepticus in 40 to 60% of pediatric patients

-The guidelines for second line agents are based on observational studies and expert opinion

-Adverse effects of phenytoin include hepatotoxicity, pancytopenia, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, extravasation injuries, hypotension and arrhythmias

- Levetiracetam has a reduced risk of serious adverse events, greater compatibility with IV fluids and can be given in 5 minutes versus 20 minutes for phenytoin.

Bottom line: In a recent randomized control trial they found that levetiracetam was not superior to phenytoin as a second line agent for management of convulsive status epilepticus in children.  There was no difference between efficacy or safety outcomes between the two groups.

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Washington state was one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use.  Toxicology call center data was collected on patient's 9 years old and younger with marijuana exposure between July 2010 and July 2016.  There were 161 cases during that time frame and of those 130 occurred after the legalization of recreational marijuana (over a 2.5 year period).  The median age range was 2 years old.  There were increasing cases noted after recreational marijuana was legalized and again after marijuana shops became legal.

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Measles outbreaks have been reported all over the globe, with the incidence increasing due to low immunization rates.  Italy experienced 5000 cases in 2017. This study was a retrospective multicenter observational study of children less than 18 years hospitalized for clinically and laboratory confirmed measles over a year and a half period from 2016-2017.

There were 263 cases of measles that required hospitalization during this time and 82% developed a complication with 7% having a severe clinical outcome defined by a permanent organ damage need for ICU care or death. A CRP value of greater than 2 mg/dL was associated with a 2-4 fold increased risk of developing complications. 23% developed pneumonia and 9.6% developed respiratory failure.  Hematologic involvement was seen in 48% of patients.  1.2% of hospitalized patients died.

Bottom line: Consider CRP, lipase and CBC at a minimum in your patients with suspected measles who require hospitalization.

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Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte abnormality in hospitalized patients, affecting approximately 15-30% of patients.  Children have historically been given hypotonic maintenance IV fluids based off of theoretical calculations from the 1950s.  Multiple studies have shown complications related to iatrogenic hyponatremia, including increased length of hospital stay, seizures and death.

The American Academy of pediatrics completed a systematic review and developed an updated clinical practice guideline:

Patient's age 28 days to 18 years requiring maintenance IV fluids should receive isotonic solutions with the appropriate amount KCl and dextrose.

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Post tonsillectomy hemorrhage occurs and 0.1-3% of post tonsillectomy patient's.  It occurs typically greater than 24 hours after surgery and up to 4-10 days postoperatively.  A survey of otolaryngologists showed that ED management strategies for active bleeding have included direct pressure, clot suction, silver nitrate, topical epinephrine, and thrombin powder.

This article was a case study demonstrating the use of nebulized tranexamic acid (TXA) for post tonsillectomy hemorrhage in a 3-year-old patient.  The patient had a copious amount of oral bleeding and had failed treatment with nebulized racemic epinephrine and direct pressure was not an option due to the patient's cooperation and small mouth.  250 mg of IV TXA was given via nebulizer with a flow rate of 8 L.  Bleeding stopped 5-7 minutes after completion of the nebulizer.  The patient was then taken to the OR for definitive management.  No adverse effects were noticed.

TXA in the pediatric population has been shown to decrease surgical blood loss and transfusions in cardiac, spine and craniofacial surgeries.  Studies have also been done in pediatric patients with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage using doses of 250 mg for children less than 25 kg and 500 mg for those who are greater than 25 kg.

Bottom line: There are case reports of nebulized TXA use in the pediatric population with no adverse outcomes noted.  More research is needed.

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Historically uncuffed endotracheal tubes were used in children under the age of 8 years due to concerns for tracheal stenosis.  Advances in medicine and monitoring capabilities have resulted in this thinking becoming obsolete.  Research is being conducted that is showing the noninferiority of cuffed tubes compared to uncuffed tubes.  Multiple other studies are looking into the advantages of cuffed tubes compared to uncuffed tubes.

The referenced study is a meta-analysis of 6 studies which compared cuffed to uncuffed endotracheal tubes in pediatrics.  The pooled analysis showed that more patients needed tube changes when they initially had uncuffed tubes placed.  There was no difference in intubation duration, reintubation occurrence, post extubation stridor, or racemic epinephrine use between cuffed and uncuffed tubes.

Bottom line: There is no difference in the complication rate between cuffed and uncuffed endotracheal tubes, but uncuffed endotracheal tubes did need to be changed more frequently.

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Coins are the most commonly ingested foreign body in the pediatric age group with a peak occurrence in children less than 5 years old.  X-rays are considered the gold standard for definitive diagnosis and location of metallic foreign bodies.  This study aimed to find a way to decrease radiation exposure by using a metal detector.

19 patients ages 10 months to 14 years with 20 esophageal coins were enrolled in the study.  All proximal esophageal coins were detected by the metal detector.  5 patient's failed initial detection of the coin with the metal detector and all of those patients had the coin in the mid or distal esophagus with a depth greater than 7 cm from the skin.

Bottom line: A metal detector may detect proximal esophageal coins.  This may have a role in decreasing repeat x-rays.

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Historically, the C-reactive protein (CRP) has been used in the assessment of the febrile child and is the only biomarker recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

CRP increases 4-6 hours after the onset of inflammation, doubling every 8 hours and peaking at 36-50 hours.  It rapidly decreases once the inflammation has resolved.

An elevated CRP alone is not conclusive of a serious bacterial infection (SBI).

A CRP >75 mg/L increased the relative risk of SBI by 5.4.

A CRP <20 mg/L decreased the risk of SBI, but there was still a small subset of children where SBI was present.

In infants < 3 months initial CRP measurements are poorly accurate, but when trended may be useful in deciding when to stop antibiotics (rather then when to start them).  A normalizing CRP demonstrated a 100% negative predictive value for excluding invasive bacterial infection.

Bottom line:

CRP is not a rule in/rule out test

CRP is not helpful in diagnosing SBI, but serial measurements may be useful in monitoring response to treatment

CRP has a limited role in well appearing children older than 3 months

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Is there an association between pulmonary aspiration, vomiting or any serious adverse event and the preprocedural fasting time?

The odds ratio of any adverse event did not increase significantly with each additional hour of fasting duration for both solids and liquids. 

The guidelines set by the American Society of Anesthesiology for fasting include a minimum of 2 hours for clear liquids, 4 hours for breast milk, 6 hours for formula and light meals and 8 hours for solid meals containing fatty foods or meat.

This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective cohort study of children 0-18 years who received procedural sedation in 6 Canadian pediatric emergency departments from 2010-2015.  6183 children were included with 99.7% meeting ASA 1 or 2 categories.  2974 patients did not meet the American Society of Anesthesiology fasting guidelines for solids and 510 patients did not meet the fasting guidelines for liquids.  The overall incidence of adverse events was 11.6%.  There were no cases of pulmonary aspiration.  There was a total of 717 adverse events.  315 events were vomiting.  Oxygen and vomiting were the most common adverse events. 

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