Evaluation of Physicians' Knowledge About Honey/Sucralfate Treatments in Children With Button Battery Ingestion.

OBJECTIVES: Ingestion of button batteries (BBs) causes serious mortality and morbidity. We aimed to evaluate the knowledge level of physicians working in pediatric emergency departments about the updated guidelines for BB ingestion and whether they used honey and sucralfate, which have proven positive effects in preventing mucosal damage, in their daily practice. METHODS: A "Google Form" questionnaire was prepared and used to evaluate the approach of physicians who worked in pediatric emergency department with questions about pediatric patients who were admitted with the suspicion of BB swallowing. RESULTS: A total of 263 physicians, 169 women (64.3%), with a mean age of 34.5 ± 7.3 years, participated in the study. Seventy-five percent of the participants were from tertiary care hospitals, and 60.8% had less than 5 years of pediatric emergency experience. Some 71.9% of the physicians who participated in the survey (n = 189) had no algorithm at their hospitals. Fifty-eight percent (n = 152) of the participants completely and correctly answered all our survey questions about battery swallowing. Fifty-eight (22.1%) of the participants administered sucralfate, and 12.2% (n = 32) used honey treatments in patients who swallowed BBs; 68.1% (n = 179) had never heard of the use of sucralfate, and 77.6% (n = 204) had never heard of honey applications before in the management of swallowed batteries. CONCLUSION: It was determined that the physicians who managed pediatric battery swallowing cases had deficiencies in their treatment approaches, they had no protocol in their institutions, and the use of mucosal damage mitigation and neutralization treatments, such as honey and sucralfate, was insufficient.

A retrospective study to describe the clinical pattern of dermatologic lesions from the pediatric emergency department: our experience from a tertiary care hospital in Turkey.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dermatologic lesions that occur primarily or are secondary to disease are among the most common reasons for referral to the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED). This study aims to reveal the clinical features, diagnostic distribution, and management of patients who presented to the PED with dermatologic lesions. METHODS: The study was a retrospective cross-sectional study involving children aged 0-18 years who presented to Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, PED, in 2018 with dermatologic lesions. The SPSS-20 program was used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1590 patients, 57.8% (919) male, were included in the study. The median age was 75 (minimum: 4 days; maximum: 17 years, 11 months) months. The frequency of dermatologic lesions was 4.33% (433/10,000). Allergic and infectious dermatologic lesions, which are the two most common skin lesions in all age groups, were seen in 46.2% (735) and 30.5% (485) (patients, respectively. Urticaria (n = 588, 37%) was the most common in allergic rashes, and viral rashes (n = 162, 10.2%) were the most common in infectious rashes. Ninety-four percent (1495) of the patients were discharged from the PED. Two patients were hospitalized and followed up as dermatologic emergencies. CONCLUSION: Urticaria and viral eruptions are common dermatologic lesions in our PED. Both conditions are easily recognized and treated by physicians. Most lesions do not require hospitalization. Dermatologic emergencies, although rare, should be well-known to physicians.