If there happened to be a local outbreak of botulism somewhat close to where I worked I'd want to take a look at some resources; Pediatrics in Review: Infant Botulism Medscape: Pediatric Botulism Life in the Fast Lane
I'm delighted to share the latest PEM Currents podcast! I recently sat down with Todd Florin, one of the faculty physicians at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and talked about bronchiolitis, delving into the controversies around the use of hypertonic saline, albuterol and more. Todd also recommended that all of my listeners check out the current AAP Bronchiolitis Guideline, which [...]
Whenever you order a lab you must ask yourself the following questions? Why am I ordering this test? What am I going to do with the result? Given that PCT has become a frequently ordered test for many of you I wanted to answer some straightforward questions, and dive into the body of evidence to help support your decision making [...]
It goes without saying that a clinical prediction rule, and for that matter an associated online tool (one of which in particular we'll get to in a minute) is only as good as your initial clinical judgment and as practical as the environment in which you work. These types of rules also need to be grounded in solid methodology with [...]
And so it is with great lament and crocodile tears that we have reached the end of my series on the top ten articles presented at the recent AAP NCE in San Diego. It took me a bit of time to get there, but I think that the journey was worth it. Look for a compilation post in the near future. Links PubMed Pediatrics [...]
Continuing onward with the next in the top ten articles presented at the recent AAP NCE in San Diego is a study of the use of hypertonic saline (HTS) in bronchiolitis. I'll stray a bit form the usual format in that this paper was presented in a point counterpoint fashion. I've also posted on this topic previously as a part [...]
With the recent influenza epidemic you may have also seen a rise in the number of cases of parotitis. This should not be a surprise, as acute parotitis is usually viral, self-limited and treated with supportive measures - just like the flu! Learn more by listening to this edition of PEM Currents, which is all about acute parotitis. Check it [...]
Let's check out another in the top ten articles presented at the recent AAP NCE in San Diego. This study examined the relationship between time to antibiotics and morbidity and mortality in pediatric sepsis. Links PubMed Critical Care Medicine The bottom line Early administration of antibiotics in sepsis reduces mortality. What they did The authors performed a retrospective observational study of 130 children [...]
You may have recently heard about an outbreak of mumps in the National Hockey League but after seeing several cases of unilateral facial swelling over the angle of the mandible in a school age child you're probably wondering what's going on at your home institution as well. Has the MMR vaccine failed? Is everyone suddenly worshipping at the church of Jenny McCarthy? Let's [...]
I'm sure that many of you are seeing significant volumes in your Emergency Departments. Certainly a lot of it is being driven by flu/concerns about flu/rumors about flu etc,. Here are a few things I want you to remember; In a meta-analysis of 60 studies of rapid influenza antigen tests in children, the pooled sensitivity of rapid influenza antigen [...]
