Deliberate practice as an educational method for learning to interpret the prepubescent female genital examination.

BACKGROUND: Correct interpretation of the prepubescent female genital examination is a critical skill; however, physician skill in this area is limited. OBJECTIVE: To complement the bedside learning of this examination, we developed a learning platform for the visual diagnosis of the prepubescent female genital examination and examined the amount and rate of skill acquisition. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Medical students, residents, and fellows and attendings participated in an on-line learning platform. METHODS: This was a multicenter prospective cross-sectional study. Study participants deliberately practiced 158 prepubescent female genital examination cases hosted on a computer-based learning and assessment platform. Participants assigned the case normal or abnormal; if abnormal, they identified the location of the abnormality and the specific diagnosis. Participants received feedback after every case. RESULTS: We enrolled 107 participants (26 students, 31 residents, 24 fellows and 26 attendings). Accuracy (95 % CI) increased by 10.3 % (7.8, 12.8), Cohen's d-effect size of 1.17 (1.14, 1.19). The change in specificity was +16.8 (14.1, 19.5) and sensitivity +2.4 (-0.9, 5.6). It took a mean (SD) 46.3 (32.2) minutes to complete cases. There was no difference between learner types with respect to initial (p = 0.2) or final accuracy (p = 0.4) scores. CONCLUSIONS: This study's learning intervention led to effective and feasible skill improvement. However, while participants improved significantly with normal cases, which has relevance in reducing unnecessary referrals to child protection teams, learning gains were not as evident in abnormal cases. All levels of learners demonstrated a similar performance, emphasizing the need for this education even among experienced clinicians.

Nephrotoxicity after acute severe acetaminophen poisoning in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the rate of acetaminophen related nephrotoxicity in adolescents who present after acute severe acetaminophen intoxication and to identify potential predictors of this outcome. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of consecutive patients between the ages of 12 and 18 years who were admitted at a tertiary care children's hospital for treatment of acute severe acetaminophen intoxication with N-acetylcysteine. The main outcome measure was the frequency of acetaminophen-related nephrotoxicity, defined as abnormal blood urea nitrogen (>6.4 mmol/L or > 18 mg/dL) and/or elevated creatinine (97.2 micromol/L or > 1.1 mg/dL) in association with one or both of the following: elevated blood pressure (systolic blood pressure > 140 mm Hg/diastolic blood pressure >85) or abnormal urinalysis (urinalysis with hematuria or proteinuria). Statistical analyses used were measures of central tendency, Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney, and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Fourty-five patients were included. Acetaminophen-related nephrotoxicity occurred in 4 (8.9%) cases. One victim developed severe renal injury in association with elevated hepatic transaminases. Intergroup analyses revealed no statistically significant association between acetaminophen-related nephrotoxicity and amount/kg of acute severe acetaminophen ingested, delay in treatment with N-acetylcysteine, or measures of hepaticfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Acetaminophen-related nephrotoxicity occurred in 8.9% [95% CI: 4.52, 20.48] of children with severe overdose. There are no obvious predictors of this complication of acetaminophen overdose. Because the occurrence of renal injury can not be predicted, serial blood pressure, blood urea nitrogen/creatinine, and urinalysis should be considered an integral part of the management of children with acute, severe acetaminophen intoxication.

Sensitivity of a clinical examination to predict need for radiography in children with ankle injuries: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Radiographs are ordered routinely for children with ankle trauma. We assessed the predictive value of a clinical examination to identify a predefined group of low-risk injuries, management of which would not be affected by absence of a radiograph. We aimed to show that no more than 1% of children with low-risk examinations (signs restricted to the distal fibula) would have high-risk fractures (all fractures except avulsion, buckle, and non-displaced Salter-Harris I and II fractures of the distal fibula), and to compare the potential reduction in radiography in children with low-risk examinations with that obtained by application of the Ottawa ankle rules (OAR). METHODS: Standard clinical examinations and subsequent radiographs were prospectively and independently evaluated in two tertiary-care paediatric emergency departments in North America. Eligible participants were healthy children aged 3-16 years with acute ankle injuries. Sample size, negative and positive predictive values, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated. McNemar's test was used to compare differences in the potential reduction in radiographs between the low-risk examination and the OAR. FINDINGS: 607 children were enrolled; 581 (95.7%) received follow-up. None of the 381 children with low-risk examinations had a high-risk fracture (negative predictive value 100% [95% CI 99.2-100]; sensitivity 100% [93.3-100]). Radiographs could be omitted in 62.8% of children with low-risk examinations, compared with only 12.0% reduction obtained by application of the OAR (p<0.0001). INTERPRETATION: A low-risk clinical examination in children with ankle injuries identifies 100% of high-risk diagnoses and may result in greater reduction of radiographic referrals than the OAR.