The management of very mild and mild asthma in preschoolers, children, and adolescents.

This practice point summarizes recommendations from the Canadian Thoracic Society's 2021 "Guideline update: Diagnosis and management of asthma in preschoolers, children, and adults." New recommendations include: a decrease in the frequency of daytime symptoms and reliever use to ≤2 per week in the asthma control criteria; assessing for risk of asthma exacerbation; not using as-needed short-acting beta-agonists alone in patients at higher risk for exacerbation; and the option of as-needed budesonide/formoterol (bud/form) in those ≥12 years old if they are unable to take daily inhaled corticosteroids despite extensive asthma education and support. The preference for daily inhaled corticosteroids to manage mild asthma in children, and the recommendation against intermittent short courses of inhaled corticosteroids, are unchanged.

La prise en charge de l'asthme léger et très léger chez les enfants d'âge préscolaire, les enfants et les adolescents.

Le présent point de pratique résume la mise à jour des lignes directrices de la Société canadienne de thoracologie publiée en 2021 sur le diagnostic et la prise en charge de l'asthme chez les enfants d'âge préscolaire, les enfants et les adultes. Ces nouvelles recommandations incluent, parmi les critères de contrôle de l'asthme, une diminution de la fréquence des symptômes diurnes et de l'utilisation de médicaments pour soulager l'asthme à un maximum de deux fois par semaine. Elles comprennent également l'évaluation du risque d'exacerbation de l'asthme, la non-utilisation de bêta-agonistes à courte durée d'action seuls au besoin chez les patients à plus fort risque d'exacerbation et la possibilité d'administrer du budésonide-formotérol au besoin aux jeunes de 12 ans ou plus qui sont incapables de prendre des corticostéroïdes inhalés au quotidien malgré une éducation sur l'asthme et un soutien importants. La préférence pour la prise quotidienne de corticostéroïdes inhalés afin de traiter l'asthme léger chez les enfants et la recommandation d'éviter les courts traitements intermittents de corticostéroïdes inhalés ne changent pas.

Rare broncho-pulmonary arterial fistula in a healthy 9-year-old girl.

A 9-year-old previously well girl presented with multiple episodes of large volume haemoptysis and right sided consolidation. She continued to have haemoptysis despite intravenous antibiotics. CT chest suggested a right mainstem endobronchial lesion; this was not seen on bronchoscopy where an extensive blood clot was removed. Distal flexible bronchoscopy could not identify the source of bleeding. CT angiogram revealed a broncho-pulmonary arterial fistula, a rare cause of haemoptysis in children. Endovascular embolisation resulted in short-term symptom resolution; however, haemoptysis recurred months later, leading to re-embolisation. This case highlights a stepwise approach to the workup of large volume haemoptysis.

Body Fat Distribution Ratios and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity in Youth With Obesity.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Obesity and regional fat distribution, measured by neck fat mass percentage using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), correlate with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity in adults. In obese children, neck-to-waist-circumference ratio predicts OSA. This study examined associations between body fat percentage and distribution and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) severity in obese youth, measured with DXA. METHODS: Cross-sectional retrospective study conducted at a tertiary children's hospital. Participants were aged 6 to 18 years with obesity (body mass index [BMI] > 99th percentile [BMI z-score 2.35] or > 95th percentile with comorbidity). They underwent polysomnography and DXA to quantify body fat percentage and distribution ratios (neck-to-abdominal fat percentage [NAF % ratio]). SDB was defined as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > 5 and OSA as obstructive AHI (OAHI) > 1 event/h. Relationships of BMI z-score and NAF % ratio to log AHI and log OAHI were evaluated. RESULTS: Thirty individuals participated; 18 male; median age 14.1 years. Twenty-four individuals had BMI z-scores > 2.35. Ten had AHI > 5 events/h. NAF % ratio was significantly associated with log AHI in males and with log OAHI in all, whereas total fat mass percent was not. The association between log OAHI and NAF % ratio was significant in males, but not females. NAF % ratio was significantly associated with log OAHI in those with BMI z-score above 2.35. CONCLUSIONS: NAF % ratio was associated with OSA severity in males and youth with BMI > 99th percentile; however, total fat mass percentage was not, suggesting that body fat distribution is associated with OSA risk in youth.

Adoption of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) strategies for colorectal surgery at academic teaching hospitals and impact on total length of hospital stay.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs is to incorporate strategies into the perioperative care plan to decrease complications, hasten recovery, and shorten hospital stay. This study was designed to determine which ERAS strategies contribute to overall shortened length of hospital stay in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery in hospitals. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 336 consecutive patients at seven hospitals was performed. Demographic and data on 18 ERAS components identified from a systematic review of the literature were collected. A multiregression analysis was performed to assess for factors independently associated with a total length of hospital stay of 5 days or less. RESULTS: Fifty-five percent were male (mean age, 62 years), 57.5% had an ASA III or IV, 76.9% had cancer, and 28.6% had low rectal procedures; 46.3% were completed laparoscopically. The median length of stay was 6.5 days with a mean of 8.6 days. On bivariate analysis, strategies associated with a stay ≤ 5 days were preoperative counseling, avoidance of oral bowel preparation, use of a laparoscopic approach, use of a transverse incision, introduction of clear fluids on day of surgery, and early discontinuation of the Foley catheter (all P < 0.05). On multivariate analysis, factors that remained significantly associated with a stay ≤ 5 days included use of a laparoscopic approach (odds ratio (OR), 1.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12-1.38), preoperative counseling (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.15-1.38), intraoperative fluid restriction (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.15-1.37), clear fluids on day of surgery (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.00-1.2), and Foley urinal catheter discontinued within 24 h of colon surgery and 72 h of rectal surgery (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.01-1.27). CONCLUSIONS: In hospitals with variable uptake of ERAS strategies, preoperative counseling, intraoperative fluid restriction, use of a laparoscopic approach, immediate initiation of clear fluids after surgery, and early discontinuation of the Foley catheter are all independently associated with shortened length of stay.