Clinical trial: oral ondansetron for reducing vomiting secondary to acute gastroenteritis in children--a double-blind randomized study.

BACKGROUND: Vomiting as a consequence of gastroenteritis frequently occurs in children. It is still debatable whether vomiting should be treated with antiemetic drugs. AIM: To investigate potential beneficial effects of ondansetron in treating vomiting during acute gastroenteritis. METHODS: A randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed in our emergency departments. Children, aged 5 months to 8 years, were randomized to receive either ondansetron 0.2 mg/kg or placebo at 8h intervals. The primary outcome measure was the frequency of emesis during an 8-h-period after enrollment. RESULTS: A hundred and nine patients were enrolled; 54 received placebo and 55 received ondansetron. As compared with the children who received placebo, children who received ondansetron were less likely to vomit both during the first 8-h follow-up in the emergency department [relative risk (RR): 0.33, 95% CI: 0.19-0.56, NNT: 2, 95% CI: 1.6-3.5], and during the next 24-h follow-up (RR: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.07-0.33, NNT: 2, 95% CI: 1.3-2.1). CONCLUSION: Ondansetron may be an effective and efficient treatment that reduces the incidence of vomiting from gastroenteritis during both the first 8 h and the next 24 h, and is probably a useful adjunct to oral rehydration.

Surfactant therapy in acute respiratory distress syndrome due to hydrocarbon aspiration.

Hydrocarbon aspiration causes acute lung injury, which may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Surfactant has been shown to be beneficial in experimentally-induced hydrocarbon-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, there has not been a clinical study evaluating the effect of surfactant application on hydrocarbon aspiration in humans. We report a 17-month-old boy with acute respiratory distress syndrome due to hydrocarbon aspiration and was successfully treated with surfactant application.

Correlation of simultaneously obtained capillary, venous, and arterial blood gases of patients in a paediatric intensive care unit.

AIMS: To investigate the correlation of pH, partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), base excess (BE), and bicarbonate (HCO3) between arterial (ABG), venous (VBG), and capillary (CBG) blood gases. METHODS: Patients admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Cukurova University between August 2000 and February 2002 were enrolled. RESULTS: A total of 116 simultaneous venous, arterial, and capillary blood samples were obtained from 116 patients (mean age 56.91 months, range 15 days to 160 months). Eight (7%) were neonates. Sixty six (57%) were males. pH, PCO2, BE, and HCO3 were all significantly correlated in ABG, VBG, and CBG. Correlation in PO2 was also significant, but less so. Correlation between pH, PCO2, PO2, BE, and HCO3 was similar in the presence of hypothermia, hyperthermia, and prolonged capillary refilling time. In hypotension, correlation in PO2 between VBG and CBG was similar but disappeared in ABG-VBG and ABG-CBG. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant correlation in pH, PCO2, PO2, BE, and HCO3 among ABG, VBG, and CBG values, except for a poor correlation in PO2 in the presence of hypotension. Capillary and venous blood gas measurements may be useful alternatives to arterial samples for patients who do not require regular continuous blood pressure recordings and close monitoring of PaO2. We do not recommend CBG and VBG for determining PO2 of ABG.

Amitraz poisoning, an emerging problem: epidemiology, clinical features, management, and preventive strategies.

BACKGROUND: Amitraz is a pharmaceutical, veterinary, and agricultural product which is used worldwide under numerous generic names as an acaricide and insecticide. Because of its widespread use amitraz poisoning has come emerged as a cause of childhood poisoning during the past decade, particularly more in certain countries such as Turkey. AIMS AND METHODS: To report the clinical features, the management, and the preventive strategies of amitraz poisoning in nine children, and review the previously reported 137 cases in humans. RESULTS: Five male and four female children aged 10 months to 8 years were admitted to our department. The estimated ingested dose ranged between 89.2 and 163 mg/kg and estimated time from ingestion to presentation was 30-120 minutes. The initial signs and symptoms were impaired consciousness, drowsiness, vomiting, disorientation, miosis, mydriasis, hypotension, bradycardia, tachypnoea, hypothermia, and generalised seizures. Hyperglycaemia, glycosuria, and minimal increase in transaminase levels were observed. None required mechanical ventilation. CNS depression resolved spontaneously within 4-28 hours in all. The length of hospital stay was two to three days; all had a good outcome. CONCLUSION: This review details preventive measures and management strategies of amitraz poisoning, including the importance of following patients closely in the intensive care unit, monitoring their respiratory, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems since they may occasionally experience serious cardiopulmonary side effects.

Salbutamol intoxication: is salbutamol a drug-inducing fever? A case report and treatment strategy.

A four-year-old female with salbutamol intoxication was referred to our paediatric emergency medicine unit, due to agitation, tremulousness, sinus tachycardia, mild hypokalaemia and hyperglycaemia. On admission the child was agitated and had a noticeable tremor, an axillary temperature of 38 degrees C and a pulse rate of 185 beats/min. She had no identifiable focus of infection on physical examination to explain her fever. Gastric lavage, activated charcoal, intravenous hydration and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring were performed. Her plasma potassium level, blood sugar and QT interval were closely monitored during her hospital stay. Her fever, tachycardia and serum potassium and glucose levels returned to normal and she was discharged in good condition 24 h after admission. The difference of this case from prior cases of salbutamol intoxication was the observation of fever in the absence of evidence of infection. Since the cause of fever was not a reaction to the medication used in the treatment or related to environmental factors, it is assumed that salbutamol is a fever-inducing drug.

Erythrocyte pyruvate kinase activity during chemotherapy in children with leukemia and lymphoma.

OBJECTIVES: To determine both erythrocyte pyruvate kinase activity (ePKA) at the time of diagnosis of patients with acute leukemia or lymphoma and the differences in the ePKA profiles during the malignant disease and its chemotherapy. METHODS: A prospective, longitudinal clinical study was performed involving 57 patients, 10 were the ones with relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 32 were the ones with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 15 were the ones with lymphoma. None of the subjects in this study group received treatment or blood transfusion before the study, except the ones diagnosed with relapse of ALL. Forty two healthy children were also selected to form the control group. In order to measure ePKA, blood samples were taken for five times, with 1.5 months apart between each other during the study. Statistical analysis were done by using Wilcoxon's signed rank test, Kruskall-Wallis with Mann-Whitney U Test and Spearman rank correlation coefficient test. RESULTS: The ePKA of the patients with relapse of ALL, and ALL, but not the patients with lymphoma, at the time of diagnosis were found to be lower compared to the one's in the control group (respectively p = 0.001, p = 0.003). The comparison between the first ePKA samples and the third ePKA samples of the patients with both ALL and lymphoma showed a significant increase (respectively p = 0.006, and p = 0.047). CONCLUSION: The measurement of ePKA can be considered for follow-up the neoplastic treatment due to the fact that it is detected to be low in leukemia and relapse of ALL and in normal values after chemotherapy. However, more long-term studies, including more number of cases, are required to be carried out in order to prove the accuracy of this hypothesis. (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 28.)

A case of child abuse: haloperidol poisoning of a child caused by his mother.

This presentation focused on a hyperactive child admitted to the emergency department because of ataxia and imbalance. It was later discovered that the child had been abused by his mother. In cases where there is conflict between the clinical findings, the patient and the family's history in a clinical state which cannot be explained satisfactorily by the medical staff, the need for taking the history again from other relatives whilst taking into account the parents' physiological well-being, is time well spent.