Differences in Utilisation of the General and Paediatric Emergency Departments by Paediatric Patients

INTRODUCTION@#Paediatric patients presenting to the general emergency departments (EDs) differ from those presenting to paediatric EDs. General EDs vary in preparedness to manage paediatric patients, which may affect delivery of emergency care with varying clinical outcomes. We aimed to elucidate the differences in utilisation patterns of paediatric and general EDs by paediatric patients.@*METHODS@#This study was conducted in a public healthcare cluster in Singapore consisting of 4 hospitals. A retrospective review of the medical records of paediatric patients, defined as age younger than 16 years old, who attended the EDs from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018, was performed. Data were collected using a standardised form and analysed.@*RESULTS@#Of the 704,582 attendances, 686,546 (97.4%) were seen at the paediatric ED. General EDs saw greater number of paediatric patients in the emergent (P1) category (921 [5.1%] versus 14,829 [2.2%]; @*CONCLUSION@#General EDs need to build their capabilities and enhance their preparedness according to the paediatric population they serve so that optimal paediatric emergency care can be delivered, especially for critically ill patients who are most in need of life-saving and timely treatment.

The golden hours in paediatric septic shock--current updates and recommendations

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>Paediatric sepsis is a global health problem. It is the leading cause of mortality in infants and children worldwide. Appropriate and timely initial management in the first hours, often termed as the "golden hours", has great impact on survival. The aim of this paper is to summarise the current literature and updates on the initial management of paediatric sepsis.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>A comprehensive literature search was performed via PubMed using the search terms: 'sepsis', 'septic shock', 'paediatric' and 'early goal-directed therapy'. Original and review articles were identified and selected based on relevance to this review.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Early recognition, prompt fluid resuscitation and timely administration of antibiotics remain key in the resuscitation of the septic child. Use of steroids and tight glycaemic control in this setting remain controversial.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The use of early goal-directed therapy has had significant impact on patient outcomes and protocolised resuscitation of children in septic shock is recommended.</p>

Physiologically-guided Balanced Resuscitation: An Evidence-based Approach for Acute Fluid Management in Paediatric Major Trauma

Trauma is a major cause of death, and haemorrhage represents an important target for improving outcomes after severe injury. Volume replacement with crystalloids in resuscitation might become harmful in large amounts because of coagulopathy. A fine balance must be achieved between haemodynamic and haemostatic resuscitation. Permissive hypotension refers to permitting some degree of hypotension in such adult patients in an attempt to attain this fine balance. For patients who require a significant volume of blood product resuscitation, the term 'massive transfusion protocol' (MTP) is used. There is very little data on transfusion protocols for paediatric trauma patients, and children respond to hypovolemic shock in a different physiological manner compared to adults. Hence, concepts such as permissive hypotension may not be appropriate when treating children involved in major trauma. We recently embarked on a plan to streamline the management of blood transfusion in massive bleeding during paediatric trauma, to reduce the logistical problems associated with the transport of blood products from the blood bank to the patient. From this, we evolved a MTP for paediatric major trauma. Nonetheless, further studies will be needed to see if there is indeed improved outcome after MTP in paediatric major trauma as current evidence is extrapolated from adult studies.