Outcomes of Pediatric Patients in Secondary Transport to Tertiary Hospital: A Retrospective Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES: Emergency medical service (EMS) providers play an important role in determining which hospital to choose. To date, there is no evidence-based guideline to support their decisions, except for major trauma cases. Secondary transport is considered when a patient needs further investigation or treatment after primary transport, but this can delay treatment and put patients at unnecessary risk. The objective of this study was to investigate the outcomes of pediatric secondary transport patients to tertiary hospitals. METHODS: This was a citywide population-based observational study conducted in Kobe, Japan. We reviewed the EMS registry to identify secondary transport patients younger than 19 years and investigated their clinical characteristics. We excluded cases of unknown hospital destinations, nontransported cases, and major trauma patients who followed a different protocol for a hospital destination. The primary endpoint was the hospital outcome 12 hours after transport. Because there was no link between the EMS patient transport data and the hospital medical records, a probabilistic linkage was performed to obtain the hospital outcomes. Patients who required secondary transport were compared with patients transported directly to tertiary hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 13,720 pediatric patients were transported from the field by Kobe EMS between January 2013 and December 2015. Among them, 81 pediatric patients (0.6%) required secondary transport to tertiary hospitals within 24 hours of the primary transport, whereas a total of 3673 patients (27%) were transported directly to tertiary hospitals. Despite no apparent difference in prehospital severity, secondary transport patients were associated with higher hospitalization rates and a need for critical care compared with those who had direct transport. Seizure was the most common reason for the use of secondary transport, and 89% of the seizure patients were hospitalized after undergoing secondary transport; minor trauma was the second most common reason for the use of secondary transport, and 53% of the patients were hospitalized. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the characteristics of the secondary transport patients and hospital outcomes revealed a heterogeneity in pediatric prehospital transport. It is recommended that the development of pediatric EMS destination guidelines cover children's diverse conditions. Further studies are required, and linkages between prehospital and hospital data will help promote a better understanding of appropriate hospital destinations.

The association between prehospital vital signs of children and their critical clinical outcomes at hospitals.

Vital signs are important for patient assessment, but little is known about interpreting those of children in prehospital settings. We conducted an observational study to investigate the association between prehospital vital signs of children and their clinical outcomes in hospitals. We plotted the data of patients with critical outcomes on published reference ranges, such as those of healthy children to evaluate the clinical relevance. Of the 18,493 children screened, 4477 transported to tertiary hospitals were included in the analysis. The outcomes 12 h after being transported to a tertiary hospital were as follows: deceased, 41; hospitalization with critical deterioration events, 65; hospitalization without critical deterioration events, 1086; returned home, 3090; and unknown, 195. The reference ranges of the heart rates (sensitivity: 57.7%, specificity: 67.5%) and respiratory rates (sensitivity: 54.5%, specificity: 67.7%) of healthy children worked best to detect the critical outcomes. Therefore, the reference ranges of healthy children were concluded to be suitable in prehospital settings; however, excessive reliance on vital signs carried potential risks due to their limited sensitivities and specificities. Future studies are warranted to investigate indicators with higher sensitivities and specificities.

Teaching "medical interview and physical examination" from the very beginning of medical school and using "escape rooms" during the final assessment: achievements and educational impact in Japan.

BACKGROUND: There is no consensus regarding the best time to teach two fundamental pillars of clinical medicine: medical interview and physical examination. We investigated the impacts of teaching the course "Medical Interview and Physical Examination" in Japan from the very beginning of medical school. In addition, we also evaluated the educational value of using "Escape Rooms", a series of timed, game-based scenarios using simulators, as a part of the final assessment of the course. METHODS: At the end of the course, the interview capabilities of 140 first year medical students at International University of Health and Welfare (Japan) were assessed by physicians who acted as simulated patients. Physical examination skills were assessed using the "Escape Room" team task method. Students also self-assessed their confidence in their physical examination skills pre and post "Escape Rooms." A day prior to the final assessment, students completed an anonymous course evaluation. RESULTS: The average global rating of the students' medical interview skills using a rating scale from 1 to 6 (1-fail 6-outstanding, no different from practicing junior physician's level) was 4.6. Twenty-two students scored the highest mark of 6. An average of 89% of "Escape Room" teams finished all the physical examination tasks correctly within the allotted time. All teams that could not finish in time completed all tasks correctly when given an additional 3 to 5 min. Students' self-assessed confidence in their physical examination skills increased from 49 to 73 (out of 100) pre and post "Escape Rooms." In the course evaluation questionnaire, 99% of students answered "this course enhanced their motivation" (response rate 89%) and 99% also answered "this course was interesting and useful" (response rate 86%). CONCLUSIONS: This descriptive study analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data showed that the course not only achieved the intended objectives of successfully conducting comprehensive medical interview and basic physical examination skills, but also enhanced student motivation. "Escape Rooms", used for the course assessment, in itself enhanced students' self-perceived physical examination skills and had an added educational value.

Medication Without Harm: Developing Optimal Medication Error Reporting Systems.

Medication errors are amongst the most frequently occurring healthcare-related incidents and have the potential to lead to life-threatening harm to patients. An incident reporting system is a traditional approach to the improvement of patient safety and entails the retrieval of information from incident reports. This not only provides a better understanding of causes and contributing factors but also enables the collection of data on the severity of incidents, system deficiencies and the role of human factors in safety incidents. Medication error reporting systems are often developed as a part of larger incident reporting systems that deal with other types of incidents. Although a rise in the prevalence of medication errors has led to an increased demand for medication error reporting, little is known about the characteristics and limitations of medication error reporting systems. The authors broach the subject of medication error reporting systems and propose a more robust and standardized approach.

Classification Scheme for Incident Reports of Medication Errors.

This study aimed to develop a classification scheme for retrieving information from incident reports of medication errors. This 15-category classification scheme captures minimal medication-incident related information from incident reports and thus serves as an information model for automatic information retrieval solution. The automatic solution uses recent advances in artificial intelligence methods to learn from incident report resources and is promising to the prevention of adverse drug events and promotion of safety in medical care.

End-of-life care in the pediatric intensive care unit: Survey in Japan.

BACKGROUND: End-of-life (EOL) care is an important topic in critical care medicine, but EOL discussions with families can be difficult and stressful for intensivists. The aim of this study was to clarify the current practices and barriers facing pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) EOL care and to identify the requisites for excellent PICU EOL care in Japan. METHODS: A survey was conducted in 29 facilities across Japan in 2016. The questionnaire consisted of 19 multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question. RESULTS: Twenty-seven facilities responded to the survey. Only 19% had educational programs on EOL care for fellows or residents. Although 21 hospitals (78%) had a multidisciplinary palliative care team, only eight of these teams were involved in EOL care in PICUs. Mental health care for health-care providers provided by a psychiatrist was rare (4%). The free comments were categorized as individual, team, environment, legal/ethics, or culture. Commonly raised individual issues included "lack of experience and knowledge about EOL care", "fear of making the decision to end care", and "reluctance to be involved in EOL care because of its complex process". Team issues included "insufficient frequency of conferences" and "non-multidisciplinary approach". Legal and ethics issues were "lack of legal support" and "fear of lawsuits". CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to investigate the current conditions and barriers in PICU EOL care in Japan. Most of the facilities involved were not satisfied with current practices. A need was identified for relevant educational programs, as well as the importance of multidisciplinary and legal support.

Videographic Assessment of Pediatric Tracheal Intubation Technique During Emergency Airway Management.

OBJECTIVES: To examine technical aspects of pediatric tracheal intubation using video recording and to determine the association between tracheal intubation technique and procedural outcomes. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Emergency department resuscitation bay in single tertiary pediatric center. PATIENTS: Children undergoing emergent tracheal intubation under videorecorded conditions. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A published scoring tool for characterizing patient positioning, intubator kinematics, and adjunctive maneuvers during tracheal intubation was applied to videorecorded pediatric resuscitations when tracheal intubation was performed. Procedural outcomes were measured from video review. Seventy-one children underwent 109 tracheal intubation attempts with an overall first attempt success rate of 69% and a median laryngoscopy duration of 34 seconds (interquartile range, 24-47 s). A significant subset of tracheal intubation attempts were made with the patient's bed at a height below the level of intubator's umbilicus (61%), the patient in a supine position without head elevation (55%), the intubator bent at the waist to greater than 45° (66%), less than 1 cm of mouth opening by the intubator's right hand prior to laryngoscopy (46%), and with the intubator's face less than 12 inches away from the patient's mouth (65%). Adjunctive maneuvers were used in a minority of attempts (cricoid pressure 48%, external laryngeal manipulation 11%, retraction of the right corner of the patient's mouth 26%). On multivariate analysis, including controlling for patient age category and intubator background, retraction of the right corner of the patient's mouth by an assistant showed an independent association with successful tracheal intubation. No other technical aspects were associated with tracheal intubation success. CONCLUSIONS: Intubators commonly exhibited suboptimal technique during tracheal intubation such as bending deeply at the waist, having their eyes close to the patient's mouth, failing to widely open the patient's mouth, and not elevating the occiput in older children. Retraction of the right corner of the patient's mouth by an assistant during laryngoscopy and intubation was associated with TI success.

The Effectiveness of Remote Facilitation in Simulation-Based Pediatric Resuscitation Training for Medical Students.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of pediatric simulation by remote facilitation. We hypothesized that simulation by remote facilitation is more effective compared to simulation by an on-site facilitator. We defined remote facilitation as a facilitator remotely (1) introduces simulation-based learning and simulation environment, (2) runs scenarios, and (3) performs debriefing with an on-site facilitator. METHODS: A remote simulation program for medical students during pediatric rotation was implemented. Groups were allocated to either remote or on-site facilitation depending on the availability of telemedicine technology. Both groups had identical 1-hour simulation sessions with 2 scenarios and debriefing. Their team performance was assessed with behavioral assessment tool by a trained rater. Perception by students was evaluated with Likert scale (1-7). RESULTS: Fifteen groups with 89 students participated in a simulation by remote facilitation, and 8 groups with 47 students participated in a simulation by on-site facilitation. Participant demographics and previous simulation experience were similar. Both groups improved their performance from first to second scenario: groups by remote simulation (first [8.5 ± 4.2] vs second [13.2 ± 6.2], P = 0.003), and groups by on-site simulation (first [6.9 ± 4.1] vs second [12.4 ± 6.4], P = 0.056). The performance improvement was not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.94). Faculty evaluation by students was equally high in both groups (7 vs 7; P = 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: A pediatric acute care simulation by remote facilitation significantly improved students' performance. In this pilot study, remote facilitation seems as effective as a traditional, locally facilitated simulation. The remote simulation can be a strong alternative method, especially where experienced facilitators are limited.

Predictive factor for intraoperative tumor rupture of Wilms tumor.

PURPOSE: For Wilms tumor, intraoperative tumor rupture with wide tumor spillage during surgical manipulation raises the classification to stage 3. Then, postoperative chemotherapy must be more intensive, and abdominal radiotherapy is added. Therefore, intraoperative tumor rupture should be avoided if possible. However, predictive factors for intraoperative tumor rupture have not been sufficiently described. Here we examined the risk factors for intraoperative tumor rupture. METHODS: Patients with Wilms tumor who underwent treatment according to the National Wilms Tumor Study or the Japanese Wilms Tumor Study protocol at our institution were reviewed retrospectively. Collected cases were categorized into two groups: the ruptured group and the non-ruptured group. Risk factors for intraoperative tumor rupture, including the ratio of the tumor area to the abdominal area in a preoperative single horizontal computed tomography slice (T/A ratio), were investigated in both groups. RESULTS: The two groups were not different in age, body weight, tumor laterality, sex, or histological distribution. The T/A ratio in the ruptured group was significantly higher than that in the non-ruptured group. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified a discriminative value for a T/A ratio >0.5. CONCLUSION: The T/A ratio can be a predictive factor for intraoperative tumor rupture of Wilms tumor.

Cardiac Arrests Associated With Tracheal Intubations in PICUs: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence and epidemiologic characteristics of cardiac arrests among tracheal intubations in PICUs. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected data. SETTING: Twenty-five diverse PICUs. PATIENTS: Critically ill children requiring tracheal intubation in PICUs. INTERVENTIONS: Tracheal intubation quality improvement data were prospectively collected for all initial tracheal intubations in 25 PICUs from July 2010 to March 2014 using National Emergency Airway Registry for Children registry. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Tracheal intubation-associated cardiac arrest was defined as chest compressions more than 1 minute occurring during tracheal intubation or within 20 minutes after tracheal intubation. A total of 5,232 pediatric tracheal intubations were evaluated. Tracheal intubation-associated cardiac arrest was reported in 87 (1.7%). Patient factors (demographics and indications for tracheal intubation), provider factors (discipline and training level), and practice factors (tracheal intubation method and use of neuromuscular blockade) were recorded. Hemodynamic instability and oxygenation failure as tracheal intubation indications were associated with cardiac arrests (adjusted odds ratio, 6.3; 95% CI, 3.9-10.3; and adjusted odds ratio, 4.3; 95% CI, 2.6-6.9, respectively). History of difficult airway and cardiac disease were also associated with cardiac arrests (adjusted odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2-3.5; and adjusted odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2-3.9, respectively). Provider and practice factors were not associated with cardiac arrests, and provider factors did not modify the effect of patient factors on cardiac arrests. CONCLUSIONS: Tracheal intubation-associated cardiac arrests occurred during 1.7% of PICU tracheal intubations. Tracheal intubation-associated cardiac arrests were much more common with tracheal intubations when the child had acute hemodynamic instability or oxygen failure and when the child had a history of difficult airway or cardiac disease.

Coupling of central venous pressure and intracranial pressure in a 6-year-old patient with fontan circulation and intracranial hemorrhage.

A sharp rise in intracranial pressure (ICP) was noted in a 6-year-old girl with Fontan circulation after surgical removal of a hematoma associated with intracranial hemorrhage. Inhalation of nitric oxide resulted in reduction of central venous pressure (CVP) and precipitous fall in ICP, which was otherwise resistant to conventional therapy. Specifically, the rate of fall of ICP (9 mm Hg) exceeded that of the CVP (3 mm Hg), indicating disproportionate CVP-ICP coupling. The present case provides not only a novel insight into cardio-cerebral interaction in Fontan physiology but also useful information regarding the treatment of Fontan patients in the setting of increased ICP.