Assessing paediatric safeguarding in rural Australian health services.

AIM: Establish the incidence, burden and characteristics of paediatric safeguarding concerns in rural Australian emergency department practice. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of burns, injury and poisoning presentations across 16 months involving 1472 paediatric cases. RESULTS: Five per cent of presentations had confirmed safeguarding concern. These were highest during the 2200-0600 staffing period. Mean age was 7.7 years, 43.8% were female. Multivariable regression models show age 2-6 years (odds ratio (OR), 3.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.35-7.93); delayed presentation (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.47-3.59); and police accompaniment (OR, 9.46; 95% CI, 2.61-34.26) are associated with increased safeguarding concerns. Most concerns (91.8%) related to injuries, largely musculoskeletal, wounds and head injuries. Thermal burns were more common than chemical and electrical. CONCLUSION: Children aged 2-6 are at higher risk for harm than previously recognised and children aged 0-2 years were over-represented in staff-suspected concerns. Those accompanied by police had significant association with confirmed safeguarding concerns which were under-suspected by staff or assumed to have been already reported. In rural practice, 'unreasonable delay' was found to be a better measure of concern than a discrete time value. Transient family arrangements, unsecured accommodation, geographical isolation, cultural safety and unique home environments must be taken into when completing injury assessments. For regional health services to successfully identify children at risk, interagency collaboration, staff education and local patterns of concern should be targeted. Rostering changes should increase after-hours assessment capacity by specialty paediatric staff.

Ketamine-precipitated syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion in a patient with persistent lumbar pain: a case report.

PURPOSE: To report on an unusual case of ketamine-precipitated syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) in an individual managed by an outpatient pain specialty team. CLINICAL FEATURES: A 78-yr-old male presented to the emergency department with lethargy, malaise, nausea, and abdominal bloating three days following intravenous ketamine infusion for intractable postsurgical lumbar radicular pain with neuropathic features. The patient had a history of resected prostate cancer, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and spinal stenosis and the cause of his symptoms was investigated. He was found to be hyponatremic and the treating team excluded reversible surgical and medical causes. A Naranjo score of 7 was calculated, suggesting that the correlation between ketamine and hyponatremia was "likely." Hence, a diagnosis of ketamine-precipitated SIADH was made. The patient was treated with fluid restriction and symptoms were controlled with antiemetics. He returned to baseline function with resolution of the hyponatremia within three days of discharge. CONCLUSION: This case is of clinical importance for providers using ketamine in the field of pain management as the effect of this medication reaction can be profound. Clinicians should develop an awareness that ketamine can potentiate adverse effects such as SIADH and they should monitor, detect, and manage as appropriate.

RéSUMé: OBJECTIF: Nous signalons un cas inhabituel de syndrome de sécrétion inappropriée d'hormones antidiurétiques (SIADH - syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion) précipité par la kétamine chez une personne prise en charge par une équipe spécialisée en douleur en soins ambulatoires. CARACTéRISTIQUES CLINIQUES: Un homme de 78 ans s'est présenté à l'urgence souffrant de léthargie, de malaise, de nausées et de ballonnements abdominaux trois jours après avoir reçu une perfusion intraveineuse de kétamine pour le traitement d'une douleur radiculaire lombaire postopératoire rebelle avec des caractéristiques neuropathiques. Le patient avait des antécédents de résection de cancer de la prostate, d'hyperlipidémie, d'insuffisance rénale chronique et de sténose du canal rachidien, et la cause de ses symptômes a été évaluée. Il s'est avéré hyponatrémique et l'équipe soignante a exclu les causes chirurgicales et médicales réversibles. Un score Naranjo de 7 a été calculé, suggérant que la corrélation entre la kétamine et l'hyponatrémie était « probable ¼. Par conséquent, un diagnostic de SIADH précipité par la kétamine a été posé. Le patient a été traité par restriction hydrique et les symptômes ont été contrôlés par des antiémétiques. Il est revenu à son fonctionnement de référence avec la résolution de l'hyponatrémie dans les trois jours suivant son congé. CONCLUSION: Ce cas est important d'un point de vue clinique pour les praticiens qui utilisent la kétamine pour la prise en charge de la douleur, car l'effet de cette réaction médicamenteuse peut être profond. Les cliniciens devraient prendre conscience que la kétamine peut augmenter des effets indésirables tels que le SIADH et ils devraient monitorer, dépister et prendre en charge le patient, le cas échéant.

Closing the sepsis gap: an exploration of sepsis presentations at a remote north Australian emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to explore the demographic characteristics, disease specifics and outcomes of adult patients with suspected sepsis presenting to a remote Australian emergency department (ED). A retrospective, uninterrupted time series audit of ED patients presenting with suspected sepsis was conducted. A total of 189 remote presentations were reviewed based on the time of clinician identification of sepsis. METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis was performed for all adult patients with suspected or confirmed sepsis. RESULTS: A majority of patients presenting with sepsis to a remote hospital were Indigenous (61.9%) with a large proportion (34.9%) presenting by ambulance. Median age was 50 years. Indigenous patients (44.7%, 95%CI 34.1-55.9) were more likely to meet the quick Sequential (sepsis-related) Organ Failure Assessment criteria compared to non-Indigenous patients (27.1% 95%CI 16.6-41.0) (p=0.05 95%CI -1.1-34.3) with higher rates of critical care admission (34.2% v 10.4%) (difference 23.8, p=0.003, 95%CI 7.7-37.5). Congruent with previous research, Indigenous status did not confer a difference in sepsis mortality (12.1% v 11.8%, p=0.91). CONCLUSION: Remote Indigenous patients have worse clinical sepsis scores, are more likely to present by ambulance and require skin and soft tissue source control. This cohort has higher lactate values and critical care requirements but similar mortality rates. Improving access to culturally safe medical care could address this disparity.

Otitis externa-climatic associations and evidence-based management strategies for Australian practice.

OBJECTIVES: There is a lack of consensus for the management of otitis externa. In addition to looking at seasonal trends surrounding otitis externa, this article also reviews a collection of local and international guidelines on the management of this condition. DESIGN: Retrospective case audit of clinician-diagnosed otitis externa at the Hedland Health Campus over 18 months. Review of 2007-2017 evidence-based guidelines relevant to area of practice. SETTING: Hedland Health Campus Emergency Department in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Two-hundred-thirty-six otitis externa cases in 193 individuals were seen by our service. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURED: Number of otitis externa presentations each month. RESULT: Nine guidelines were reviewed, which varied widely in recommendations. An overrepresentative proportion of patients identified as either Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. There was a strong positive correlation between the monthly rainfall and otitis externa, moderate correlation between higher monthly minimum temperatures and no correlation with maximum temperature. Given the variety of guidelines available, it was difficult to assess whether prescribing was always consistent with guidelines. CONCLUSION: This research makes evidence-based suggestions for Australian practitioners. Patients should be treated with oral analgesia, ear toileting and targeted topical therapy. There is no evidence for swabs, ear wicks and oral antibiotics. The authors hypothesise that re-presentation rates might be in part attributable to freshwater pseudomonal infection.

Lactate ≥2 mmol/L plus qSOFA improves utility over qSOFA alone in emergency department patients presenting with suspected sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: The Sepsis-3 task force recommends the use of the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score to identify risk for adverse outcomes in patients presenting with suspected infection. Lactate has been shown to predict adverse outcomes in patients with suspected infection. The aim of the study is to investigate the utility of a post hoc lactate threshold (≥2 mmol/L) added qSOFA score (LqSOFA(2) score) to predict primary composite adverse outcomes (mortality and/or ICU stay ≥72 h) in patients presenting to ED with suspected sepsis. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study was conducted on a merged dataset of suspected or proven sepsis patients presenting to ED across multiple sites in Australia and The Netherlands. Patients are identified as candidates for quality improvement initiatives or research studies at respective sites based on local screening procedures. Data-sharing was performed across sites of demographics, qSOFA, SOFA, lactate thresholds and outcome data for included patients. LqSOFA(2) scores were calculated by adding an extra point to qSOFA score in patients who met lactate thresholds of ≥2 mmol/L. RESULTS: In a merged dataset of 12 555 patients where a full qSOFA score and outcome data were available, LqSOFA(2) ≥2 identified more patients with an adverse outcome (sensitivity 65.5%, 95% confidence interval 62.6-68.4) than qSOFA ≥2 (sensitivity 47.6%, 95% confidence interval 44.6- 50.6). The post hoc addition of lactate threshold identified higher proportion of patients at risk of adverse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The lactate ≥2 mmol/L threshold-based LqSOFA(2) score performs better than qSOFA alone in identifying risk of adverse outcomes in ED patients with suspected sepsis.