Foreign Body Accidents in a Pediatric Emergency Department

Abstract Introduction Foreign body accidents (FBAs) are frequent in children and can be severe, being a common cause of morbidity and mortality and a public health problem. As these accidents are multifactorial, their cause can only be determined by analyzing the clinical details and characteristics of the object. Knowing the associated mechanisms and factors is essential to determine a risk profile and have a preventive, therapeutic, and diagnostic purpose. Objective The present study aimed to describe the incidence of FBAs in otorhinolaryngology according to their anatomical location, focusing on the aerodigestive system. Methods This is a retrospective study performed by reviewing the medical records of 668 cases seen in the emergency department of a tertiary pediatric hospital in São Paulo, state of São Paulo, Brazil, between 2014 and 2017. Results Foreign bodies (FBs) were found in the digestive system (238/668), in the nasal cavities (206/668), in the ears (182/668), in the oropharynx (34/668), and in the respiratory system (8/668). A total of 91.77% of the patients were treated in the emergency room. The main age group affected was < 5 years old, with no difference between genders. The most frequent complications affected the digestive system and the most serious occurred in cases involving the respiratory system. Conclusion Multidisciplinary teams should be ready in the emergency room to provide adequate care in FBAs. Early diagnosis, FB removal in the emergency room or the surgical center and follow-up are essential. Developing prevention campaigns including a risk profile for certain products and/or materials, helping to ensure safety for consumers, is necessary. For this, a national database with compulsory notification containing relevant information on FBAs in the pediatric population should be created.

Prevalence and functional status of children with complex chronic conditions in Brazilian PICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Objective The proportion of children with complex chronic conditions is increasing in PICUs around the world. We determined the prevalence and functional status of children with complex chronic conditions in Brazilian PICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The authors conducted a point prevalence cross-sectional study among fifteen Brazilian PICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors enrolled all children admitted to the participating PICUs with complex chronic conditions on three different days, four weeks apart, starting on April 4th, 2020. The authors recorded the patient's characteristics and functional status at admission and discharge days. Results During the 3 study days from March to June 2020, the authors enrolled 248 patients admitted to the 15 PICUs; 148 had CCC (prevalence of 59.7%). Patients had a median of 1 acute diagnosis and 2 chronic diagnoses. The use of resources/devices was extensive. The main mode of respiratory support was conventional mechanical ventilation. Most patients had a peripherally inserted central catheter (63.1%), followed by a central venous line (52.5%), and 33.3% had gastrostomy or/and tracheostomy. The functional status score was significantly better at discharge compared to admission day due to the respiratory status improvement. Conclusions The prevalence of children with CCC admitted to the Brazilian PICUs represented 59.7% of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The functional status of these children improved during hospitalization, mainly due to the respiratory component.

Microbial investigation of biofilms recovered from endotracheal tubes using sonication in intensive care unit pediatric patients

Abstract Objectives To compare cultured microorganisms identified on endotracheal tubes biofilms through sonication technique with traditional tracheal aspirate collected at extubation of pediatric intensive care unit patients. Methods Demographic and epidemiological data were analyzed to identify factors possibly related with the microbiological profile of the two collection methods. Associations between categorical and continuous variables were analyzed using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, or Student's t test. p-Value <0.05 were considered significant. Results Thirty endotracheal tubes and tracheal aspirates samples from 27 subjects were analyzed. Only one patient presented the clinical diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Overall, 50% of bacteria were Gram-negative bacilli, followed by Gram-positive bacteria in 37%, and fungi in 10%. No statistically significant difference on the distribution of Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria (p = 0.996), and fungi (p = 0.985) were observed between the collection methods. Pseudomonas spp. was the most frequent microorganism identified (23.8%), followed by Streptococcus spp. (18.5%), Acinetobacter spp. (15.9%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (11.2%), and Klebsiella spp. (8.6%). Concordant results between methods amounted to 83.3%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii showed carbapenem resistance in 50% and 43.7% of the isolates, respectively. In general, cultures after endotracheal tubes sonication (non-centrifuged sonication fluid and centrifuged sonication fluid) yielded bacteria with higher rates of antimicrobial resistance compared to tracheal aspirates cultures. Additionally, in 12 subjects (40%), we observed discrepancies regarding microbiologic profiles of cultures performed using the collection methods. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that sonication technique can be applied to ET biofilms to identify microorganisms attached to their surface with a great variety of species identified. However, we did not find significant differences in comparison with the traditional tracheal aspirate culture approach.

Infecção no período pós-operatório de cirurgia cardíaca / Infection in postoperative cardiac surgery

Apesar do emprego profilático de antibióticos, as taxas de infecção no período pós-operatório de cirurgia cardíaca variam de 10,71 a 13,30, envolvendo agentes que diferem de serviço a serviço. O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar a taxa de infecção no período pós-operatório de cirurgia cardíaca e os tipos de agentes encontrados em nosso serviço, no período de junho de 1994 a janeiro de 1996, permitindo uma descrição dos dados encontrados em neste serviço e a comparação com os outros centros. Embora este serviço não atenda apenas pacientes submetidos à cirurgia cardíaca, a taxa de infecção encontrada não difere daquelas esperadas

Meningite por Streptococcus pneumoniae de evoluçäo clínica desfavorável a terapeutica com cefalosporinas / Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis with bad clinical evoluation treated with cephalosporins

Relatamos o caso de um lactente com um mês de idade portador de miningite por Streptococcus pneumoniae de evoluçäo clínica desfavorável, sendo o agente sensível in vitro ao ceftriaxone, porém resistente in vivo. Comentamos a antibioticoterapia baseada nos testes de sensibilidade e sugerimos a associaçäo de antibióticos de largo espectro desde o início do tratamento, objetivando evitar sequelas neurológicas graves