Pediatric Musculoskeletal Injuries.

Musculoskeletal injuries are a common reason for emergency department and primary care visits in the pediatric population. The prevalence of these injuries is likely related to children and adolescents participating in sports activities, physical activity, and exercise that can lead to these injuries. It is important for health care professionals and practitioners to understand the assessment, evaluation, and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries, but also to understand when to refer for expert consultation. [Pediatr Ann. 2022;51(9):e330-337.].

The safe use of inflammatory bowel disease therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often require the use of immunosuppressant medications that increase infection risk, leading to concerns over the safe use of IBD medications during the Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Objectives: To summarize available evidence on the safety and appropriate use of IBD medications during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in regard to risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes such as hospitalization, respiratory failure, or death for patients on IBD therapeutics. Conclusions: The majority of IBD medications are safe to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a few notable exceptions. Patients with IBD who do not have COVID-19 should continue their prescribed IBD therapies, although steroids are associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes and should be weaned when possible. Corticosteroids should be tapered and discontinued when possible in patients with IBD who test positive for COVID-19 as well. Patients with IBD who test positive for COVID-19 should hold biologics, thiopurines, methotrexate, and tofacitinib for at least 2 weeks, and those who have symptoms should not restart these medications until symptom resolution. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all patients with IBD should continue to follow public health guidance including social distancing, masking, and COVID-19 vaccination recommendations.

Bleeding and Thrombotic Risk in Low Dose Heparin Infusion as Compared to Standard Dose Heparin Infusion.

Intravenous unfractionated heparin (UFH) remains one of the most commonly used anticoagulants in the hospital setting. The optimal protocol for initiation and maintenance of UFH has been difficult to determine. Over the past two decades, weight-based nomogram protocols have gained favor. Herein, we present a retrospective study of 377 patients at a single tertiary academic center treated with low intensity (LI) and standard intensity (SI) UFH protocols for therapeutic anticoagulation. UFH levels are measured by anti-Xa assay activity with therapeutic levels of 0.30 to 0.70 IU/mL for SI and 0.25 to 0.35 IU/mL for LI.  Patients treated on the LI protocol were more likely to have had a previous history of bleeding and lower baseline hemoglobin. Incidence of new or worsening thrombus while on UFH was comparable between both protocols (odds ratio (OR) 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.29-2.98, p=0.899). Patients on LI protocol had higher incidence of bleeding while on UFH (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.51-2.89, p=0.667). Our study thus suggests that the LI protocol may have comparable efficacy to the SI protocol in treating venous thromboembolism (VTE) and that target anti-Xa levels of 0.25 to 0.35 IU/mL may be more optimal in high-risk patients.