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1.
Cureus ; 16(8): e66717, 2024 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39262515

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a leading cause of preventable toxicity-related deaths in the United States. We describe a case series of 16 individuals who were exposed to CO due to a malfunctioning furnace at a Pennsylvania daycare, a state which did not mandate CO detectors in daycares. METHODS: An institutional review board-approved retrospective analysis was performed, and de-identified patient records were examined. Collected data included age, sex, race, ethnicity, CO concentrations, arrival time, time to hyperbaric oxygen center contact, and time to transfer and discharge. RESULTS: Emergency medical services transported 16 patients to a tertiary care emergency department (ED) with both adult and pediatric departments. Fourteen patients were 10 years of age or younger. Fifteen patients arrived within one hour. Sixty-two percent (N=10) were male, and 94% (N=15) identified as Hispanic. Emergency physicians, medical toxicologists, clinicians, interpreters, and volunteers from across the hospital system were mobilized to the ED to assist with management. CONCLUSION: This large-scale daycare CO poisoning represents a potentially avoidable mass casualty incident among children and daycare staff and necessitated significant coordination of care. CO detectors in Pennsylvania daycares would provide early warning for staff, prevent or minimize toxicity, inform first responders, and better prepare EDs to handle similar situations.

2.
Cureus ; 15(4): e38054, 2023 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37228560

ABSTRACT

Multifocal bone pain in a pediatric patient prompts a broad differential diagnosis, which should include chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO), particularly when the patient has a personal or family history of autoimmune diseases or chronic inflammatory disorders. CRMO is a difficult diagnosis, as several similar disorders must be ruled out first, and it requires extensive verification based on clinical, radiological, and pathological criteria. It often mimics other medical diagnoses, including Langerhans cell histiocytosis and infectious osteomyelitis. Maintaining a high index of suspicion for CRMO is important to minimize unnecessary medical testing, optimize pain control, and preserve physical function. We present the case of a nine-year-old female who presented with multifocal bone pain and was diagnosed with CRMO.

3.
Cureus ; 14(1): e21764, 2022 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35251835

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has challenged the medical community to characterize and treat a new illness. Now almost two years after the initial confirmed cases of COVID-19, medical teams are faced with another unique disease process temporally related to the pandemic-multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The comparison of these patients' presentations illustrates the new challenges of evaluating a pediatric rash and fever in the era of MIS-C. CASE REPORTS: This report presents three cases with features of MIS-C, positivity for SARS-CoV-2, rashes, fevers, gastrointestinal involvement, and elevated inflammatory markers. The first case poses a diagnostic dilemma. While the case 1 patient has many features of MIS-C, his nasal swab was positive for Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus (MSSA). While the second case falls into the case definition of MIS-C, the case 2 patient also met the criteria for atypical Kawasaki disease. Although the third case was positive for SARS-CoV-2, the patient comparatively had a mild elevation of inflammatory markers and a stable clinical course led the treatment team to be more suspicious of immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis versus hand, foot, and mouth disease. The variability in skin rash in patients with MIS-C contributes to the challenge of correctly diagnosing and managing pediatric patients with fever and rash in the emergency department (ED). CONCLUSION: Although most children infected with SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic or present with mild respiratory illness, it is critical to recognize children at-risk for fluid-refractory shock in MIS-C. With the continuing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, emergency department (ED) providers will have to be alert and have high suspicion when evaluating a child with a fever and a rash to properly identify children presenting with this serious illness.

4.
Pediatr Emerg Care ; 37(8): e449-e455, 2021 Aug 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30422948

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Serious bacterial infections (SBIs) in young infants can present with fever or hypothermia. There are substantial data on fever as a presentation for SBI that help to inform the clinical approach. In contrast, data on hypothermia are lacking, thus leaving clinicians without guidance. We aimed to describe the workup and findings, specifically the occurrence, of SBIs in infants younger than 60 days of life with hypothermia. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of infants younger than 60 days of life with rectal temperature of less than 36.5°C upon arrival to a children's hospital emergency department between January 2013 and December 2014. Comparisons were made between those who were found to have an SBI and those without. Serious bacterial infection was defined as bacteremia, bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, or urinary tract infection (UTI). RESULTS: From the 414 patients identified, 104 (25%) underwent a sepsis evaluation of blood, urine, and/or cerebrospinal fluid culture. Serious bacterial infections were identified in 9 patients: 4 with UTI, 1 with pneumonia, 2 with bacteremia, 1 with pneumonia and UTI, and 1 with meningitis and bacteremia. Compared with patients with negative cultures, patients with SBI were older and had elevated absolute band counts and elevated immature-to-total neutrophil ratio. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately a quarter of infants younger than 60 days with hypothermia were evaluated for SBI. Serious bacterial infection was identified in 9% of evaluated infants (2% of all hypothermic infants). Hypothermia can be a presenting sign of SBI.


Subject(s)
Bacteremia , Bacterial Infections , Hypothermia , Sepsis , Urinary Tract Infections , Bacteremia/diagnosis , Child , Fever/etiology , Humans , Hypothermia/diagnosis , Infant , Sepsis/diagnosis , Urinary Tract Infections/diagnosis , Urinary Tract Infections/epidemiology
5.
J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open ; 1(6): 1392-1394, 2020 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33043318

ABSTRACT

Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 overlap with other important illnesses affecting young adults. We report a case of a 17-year old male presenting to the emergency department in the midst of a pandemic with symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019. He had fever, dyspnea, chest pain, and myalgias, with bilateral infiltrates on chest radiograph, and developed septic shock secondary to infectious thromboembolic events. However, his blood cultures grew group G streptococcus secondary to his oropharyngeal infection, and he experienced an infectious thrombus in the internal jugular vein, consistent with the rare but well-described Lemierre's syndrome. This case report calls attention to the importance of maintaining differential diagnoses and thereby minimizing the biases and assumptions that come with clinical care during a pandemic.

6.
Radiol Case Rep ; 15(8): 1309-1312, 2020 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32572339

ABSTRACT

The world has been challenged by SARS CoV-2, a new virus causing pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, with common symptoms of COVID-19 in pediatric patients including both respiratory and GI symptoms. There is a lack of literature implicating COVID-19 in pancreatitis, yet viruses are generally understood to be a cause of pancreatitis in children. We present a case of a previously well 7-year-old girl, who presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of abdominal pain and anorexia. She was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis with an abnormal lipase, ultrasound, and computed tomography, and was found to be COVID-19 positive by polymerase chain reaction. Our case suggests that, in the current pandemic, consideration for SARS CoV-2 testing in children with gastrointestinal symptoms and pancreatitis may be considered. Additionally, this case highlights the need for appropriate personal protective equipment for providers, even when COVID is not initially on the differential.

7.
Am J Emerg Med ; 38(6): 1296.e5-1296.e7, 2020 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31987742

ABSTRACT

Opisthotonos, extreme involuntary neck and back extension, is rarely seen in modern emergency departments. Vaccines have prevented the most common causes of this clinical presentation. Alternatively, otitis media is one of the most common pediatric infections and is characteristically non-invasive and harmless. In exceedingly rare cases, otitis media can develop complications and progress to invasive pneumococcal diseases including mastoiditis and meningitis. Streptococcus pneumoniae accounts for the majority of otitis media infections, however, since the introduction of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) otitis media and its complications have decreased significantly. The present case reports of a previously healthy and immunized child presenting to a pediatric emergency department (PED) with opisthotonos, and was found to have pneumococcal meningitis, bacteremia and mastoiditis arising from otitis media.


Subject(s)
Otitis Media/complications , Streptococcal Infections/complications , Delayed Diagnosis , Emergency Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Female , Humans , Infant , Otitis Media/diagnosis , Otitis Media/physiopathology , Streptococcus pneumoniae/drug effects , Streptococcus pneumoniae/pathogenicity , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods
8.
Pediatr Neurol ; 89: 19-25, 2018 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30343832

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Headaches represent 0.9% to 2.6% of visits to a pediatric emergency department (PED). We noted a trend of increasing visits for headache in our tertiary care PED and sought to further characterize this trend. METHODS: We identified PED visits with International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnoses for headache at 25 hospitals in Pediatric Health Information System between 2003 and 2013. To further characterize demographics and treatment trends over time we used the electronic health record in our emergency department to identify children ages four to 18 between January 2007 and December 2014 with International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision codes for headache: a random sample of 50 visits per year were chosen for chart review. RESULTS: Pediatric Health Information System visits for headache increased by 166% (18,041 in 2003 and 48,020 in 2013); by comparison, total PED visits increased by 57.6%. The percent admission increased by 300% (2020 admissions in 2003 and 8087 admissions in 2013). At our hospital, headache visits increased 111% from 896 visits in 2007 to 1887 visits in 2014; total PED visits increased 30.2%. The admission percentage for headache increased 187% with 156 admissions in 2007 and 448 in 2014. Management over time differed in the frequency of head computed tomography which decreased 3.7% per year (r = -0.93, 95% CI -0.99, -0.64) from 34% in 2007 to 18% in 2014. CONCLUSION: Pediatric emergency department visits for headache are increasing and a growing proportion of these patients are admitted. This finding identifies a potential patient population to target for interventions to improve outpatient management and reduce pediatric emergency department utilization.


Subject(s)
Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Headache/epidemiology , Hospitals, Pediatric , Patient Admission/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Electronic Health Records/statistics & numerical data , Female , Headache/diagnostic imaging , Headache/drug therapy , Humans , International Classification of Diseases , Male , Neuroimaging , Retrospective Studies , United States/epidemiology , Young Adult
9.
Ann Emerg Med ; 70(6): 927-928, 2017 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29157697
10.
Ann Emerg Med ; 70(3): 323-330, 2017 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28460864

ABSTRACT

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We seek to determine whether ropivacaine cervical paraspinal injections compared with normal saline solution injections provide headache relief to pediatric patients that is sufficient for emergency department (ED) discharge. METHODS: We enrolled children aged 7 to 17 years in a double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial of patients presenting to a pediatric ED with headache. Subjects were randomized into 1 of 3 groups: bilateral cervical paraspinal injections of either (1) 0.5% ropivacaine or (2) normal saline solution, or (3) a natural history group (not blinded) receiving no headache therapy for the first 30 minutes. Pain scores were assessed at enrollment and at 10-, 20-, and 30-minute intervals after the administration of the injections. After the intervention period of 30 minutes, additional therapy was provided as needed. Primary outcome was the proportion of children discharged with adequate pain relief at 30 minutes without additional therapy. Secondary outcomes included reduction in pain scores, reoccurrence of headache, and re-presentation to health care with headache. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-three children were enrolled. The proportion discharged with adequate pain relief 30 minutes after the injections did not differ between the 2 intervention groups (32% in the ropivacaine group versus 28% in the saline solution group; effect difference 4%; 95% confidence interval -14% to 21%). In contrast, only 4% percent of patients in the natural history group were discharged without additional therapy after the 30-minute assessment. Reduction of pain scores (2.0 and 2.2 in ropivacaine versus saline solution), headache reoccurrence, and return to care was similar between the 2 treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Cervical paraspinal injections of either ropivacaine or saline solution were effective for approximately one third of patients.


Subject(s)
Amides/administration & dosage , Amides/therapeutic use , Anesthetics, Local/administration & dosage , Anesthetics, Local/therapeutic use , Emergency Service, Hospital , Headache/drug therapy , Adolescent , Child , Double-Blind Method , Female , Headache/epidemiology , Humans , Injections, Intramuscular , Male , Pain Measurement , Recurrence , Ropivacaine , Treatment Outcome
11.
Pediatr Emerg Care ; 33(4): 287-289, 2017 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28353529

ABSTRACT

Point-of-care ultrasound has become a valuable tool for pediatric emergency physicians, with an increasing number of indications being described. In this case presentation, we demonstrate the use of point-of-care ultrasound in the pediatric emergency department to diagnose ventriculomegaly in an infant presenting with a seizure.


Subject(s)
Hydrocephalus/diagnostic imaging , Seizures/etiology , Emergency Service, Hospital , Female , Humans , Infant , Pediatric Emergency Medicine , Point-of-Care Systems , Ultrasonography
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