OBJECTIVE: To develop a clinical dehydration scale for use in children <3 years of age. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of children between 1 and 36 months of age who presented to a tertiary pediatric emergency department (ED) with gastroenteritis. Children were weighed and scored for 12 clinical signs, were rehydrated, and then were reweighed and rescored when rehydration was completed. Weight change from pre- to post-rehydration was used to assess criterion validity with independent global assessments of dehydration severity by attending physicians and nurses as measures of construct validity. Formal approaches to item selection and reduction, reliability, discriminatory power, validity, and responsiveness were used. RESULTS: 137 children (median age: 18 months) with gastroenteritis were studied. The final dehydration scale consisted of four clinical characteristics: general appearance, eyes, mucous membranes, and tears. The measurement properties were as follows: validity as assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.36 to 0.57; reliability as assessed by the intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.77; discriminatory power as assessed by Ferguson's delta was 0.83; and responsiveness to change as assessed by Wilcoxon signed rank test was significant at P <.01. CONCLUSION: Clinicians and researchers may consider this four-item, 8-point rating scale, developed using formal measurement methodology, as an alternative to scales developed ad hoc.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed2004

Intestinal pseudoobstruction in Kawasaki disease.

Intestinal pseudoobstruction is an uncommon but important manifestation of Kawasaki disease. Its occurrence at the onset or during the course of the disease may confuse the clinical picture and cause delay in diagnosis and treatment. This delay may be responsible for the high rate of coronary artery abnormalities that have been reported in patients with this complication. We suggest that Kawasaki disease be considered in the differential diagnosis of any child presenting with intestinal pseudoobstruction and fever without definable cause.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed2004

Complications associated with image-guided gastrostomy and gastrojejunostomy tubes in children.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the complications associated with the image-guided insertion of gastrostomy (G) and gastrojejunostomy (GJ) tubes in children, performed by the retrograde percutaneous route. METHODS: A convenience sample of 208 charts of 840 patients recorded as having G and/or GJ tubes placed by the interventional radiology service in a 4-year period (1995-1999) at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, were selected for review. Complications were categorized as major (including subcutaneous abscess, peritonitis, septicemia, gastrointestinal bleeding, and death) or minor. RESULTS: In total, 253 tubes (208 G tubes, 41 GJ tubes, 4 G and GJ tubes) were placed in the 208 patients reviewed. The median age at the time of insertion was 15 months (range: 7 days-18 years). The most common diagnostic category was neurologic disease (47%). The main indications for tube insertion were recorded as failure to thrive (57%) and risk of aspiration (47%). Major complications were seen in 5% of patients. Peritonitis was noted in 3%, and there was 1 death related to tube insertion (0.4%). Minor complications were found in 73% of patients, including tube dislodgement (37%), tube leakage (25%), and G-tube site skin infection (25%). GJ tubes had a higher rate than G tubes of obstruction, migration, dislodgement, leakage, and intussusception. Site infection, gastroesophageal reflux, and bleeding from the site were seen less frequently in patients with GJ tubes compared with G tubes. CONCLUSION: G and GJ tubes placed by the image-guided retrograde percutaneous method are associated with a wide range of complications. The majority of these are minor and are predominantly related to tube maintenance, but major complications, including death, do occur.

Abscess↗

PubMed2004

Evaluation of a staff-only hospitalist system in a tertiary care, academic children's hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The staff/housestaff hospitalist system has been evaluated in 2 pediatric centers in the United States. In Canada, fewer residents and duty hour restrictions led to the development of a staff-only hospitalist system. The objective of this study was to compare the staff-only pediatric hospitalist system and the staff/housestaff hospitalist system with respect to traditional outcome measures. DESIGN: This cohort study (staff-only hospitalist system versus staff/housestaff system) used electronic health records data (July 1, 1996, to June 30, 1997) for all admissions (n = 3807) to the general pediatric inpatient unit of an urban, tertiary care, pediatric, teaching hospital in Toronto, Canada. Outcome measures included length of hospital stay, subspecialty consultations, readmission to the hospital, and death during the hospital stay. RESULTS: The median length of hospital stay was reduced by 14% for patients admitted to the staff-only hospitalist system, compared with the staff/housestaff hospitalist system (2.5 and 2.9 days, respectively). This difference remained statistically significant after adjustment for age, gender, and comorbidity. There were no significant differences between the 2 models of care with respect to subspecialty consultation, hospital readmission, or mortality rates. A stratified analysis showed similar findings for the 10 most frequent diagnostic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The staff-only hospitalist system was associated with a significant reduction in the hospital length of stay, without evidence of adverse effects on mortality or readmission rates, compared with the staff/hospitalist system. In the context of recent restrictions on resident duty hours in the United States, these findings may be of interest to pediatric teaching hospitals considering the development of a similar staff-only hospitalist model.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2003

Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) fracture and embolization in the pediatric population.

OBJECTIVES: To document and characterize fracture and embolization of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) in the pediatric population and define predisposing features for these complications. STUDY DESIGN: A case series was assembled by examining the records of PICC insertions in a single tertiary care pediatric hospital over a 6-year period. A control group was selected by simple random sampling of eligible PICC insertions. RESULTS: Among approximately 1650 PICCs, 11 children were identified with a fractured line, requiring invasive retrieval. Patient characteristics did not reveal any specific risk factors compared with the control group. Likewise, catheter size, site, and medications infused through the line were not significant predisposing factors for fracture. However, duration of placement and a line complication (blockage of the line or leaking at the insertion site) were significantly associated with catheter fractures. In all cases, the embolized line fragment was successfully retrieved by percutaneously inserted catheters and snares. No major complications arose from these fractured catheters. CONCLUSIONS: Fracture and embolization of PICCs occur and may pose a potential risk of serious consequences. It is prudent to list PICC fracture as a rare but potentially serious complication of this device when obtaining informed consent for its insertion.

Adolescent↗