Decreases in Nephrotoxic Pain Medications Are Not Associated With Increased Opioid Utilization in Critically Ill Children.

OBJECTIVES: Quality improvement initiatives to decrease rates of nephrotoxic medication exposure have reduced rates of acute kidney injury (AKI) in noncritically ill children. The objective of our study was to analyze the implementation of a similar program in critically ill children and to measure important balancing measures including opioid and benzodiazepine exposure. DESIGN: Prospective quality improvement study. SETTING: PICU at Children's Hospital Colorado between 2018 and 2020. PATIENTS: All children admitted to PICU. INTERVENTIONS: Quality improvement initiative called Nephrotoxic Injury Negated by Just-In-Time Action (NINJA). MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: Eight thousand eight hundred thirty-three PICU patient admissions were included. Mean rates of nephrotoxic medication exposure/1,000 PICU patient days decreased from 46 to 26, whereas rates of nephrotoxic AKI/1,000 PICU patient days did not change. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug dispenses per 1,000 patient days were reduced from 521 to 456. Similarly, opioid and benzodiazepine exposures per 1,000 patient days were reduced from 812 to 524 and 441 to 227, respectively, during the study observation period. CONCLUSIONS: The NINJA intervention was efficaciously implemented in our single-center PICU. Nephrotoxic exposure is a modifiable factor that did not inadvertently increase exposure to opioids and benzodiazepines.

Management of Pediatric Postendoscopy Fever: Reducing Unnecessary Health Care Utilization With a Clinical Care Guideline.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to validate rates of fever after pediatric gastrointestinal endoscopy, to describe clinical outcomes of postendoscopy fever (PEF) cases, and to assess the effect of a PEF clinical care guideline (CCG) on hospital use. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Episodes of PEF were reviewed from a large prospective database of all adverse events following pediatric gastrointestinal endoscopy at an academic children's hospital. A CCG was implemented to standardize care of children with reported fever after endoscopy and reduce unnecessary resource use. Chi-squared analysis was performed to compare rates of hospital use for evaluation of PEF before and after implementation of the CCG. RESULTS: PEF occurred in 0.55% of the 27,100 endoscopies performed during the present study period. In the 150 cases of reported fever, the rate of identified endoscopy-related infection was low (4.0%). The rate of PEF was significantly higher in patients who underwent interventional procedures (0.81%) than those who underwent diagnostic endoscopy (0.51%, P = 0.02). In patients who experienced PEF, the CCG significantly reduced hospital use, decreasing emergency department visits and hospital admissions by 52.1% (P < 0.0001) without leading to negative patient outcomes. CONCLUSION: PEF in children rarely represents clinically significant infection and may be due in part to inflammation from tissue damage and/or physiologic stress. The present study shows that implementation of a PEF CCG may reduce unnecessary care while maintaining patient safety. Furthermore, multicenter studies are required to confirm the overall safety of similar clinical algorithms.

Nephrotoxic Exposures and Acute Kidney Injury in Noncritically Ill Children Stratified by Service.

OBJECTIVE: The Nephrotoxic Injury Negated by Just-in-Time Action (NINJA) program is a multicenter, quality improvement initiative that identifies patients at risk for nephrotoxic medication-associated acute kidney injury (NTMx-AKI). The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the prevalence and types of NTMx exposures and (2) determine the prevalence of NTMx-AKI categorized by service. Exploratory analysis evaluated potential associations between hospital measures and NTMx-AKI. METHODS: This is a single-center, retrospective chart review of NTMx exposures from January 2019 to June 2020 in noncritically ill children. High NTMx exposures were defined as ≥3 simultaneous nephrotoxins or ≥3 days of either intravenous vancomycin or aminoglycoside. Prevalence of high NTMx and NTMx-AKI rate were normalized to 1000 patient days. A retrospective case-control analysis assessed for potential associations with development of NTMx-AKI. RESULTS: There were 609 NTMx exposures in 565 patients and 44 (7.2%) episodes of NTMx-AKI. The NTMx prevalence rate per 1000 patient days was highest among liver, neurosurgery, and gastroenterology services. The most commonly used NTMx were vancomycin, intravenous contrast, and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. The NTMx-AKI rate in exposed patients ranged from 0% to 14% across service lines. AKI was most often attributable to vancomycin. Univariable analyses suggest type and duration of NTMx exposure are associated with development of NTMx-AKI but not with severity. CONCLUSIONS: NTMx exposures and NTMx-AKI are variable across services. Partnerships with antimicrobial stewardship and multicenter studies are needed to modify NTMx-AKI risk. Ongoing surveillance is needed in patients who do not have normalization of creatinine before discharge.

The Association Between Fever and Subsequent Deterioration Among Hospitalized Children With Elevated PEWS.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between fever and subsequent deterioration among patients with Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) elevations to ≥4 to inform improvements to care escalation processes at our institution. METHODS: We performed a cohort study of hospitalized children at a single quaternary children's hospital with PEWS elevations to ≥4 between January 1, 2014 and March 31, 2014. Bivariable analysis was used to compare characteristics between patients with and without unplanned ICU transfers and critical deterioration events (CDEs) (ie, unplanned ICU transfers with life-sustaining interventions initiated in the first 12 ICU hours). A multivariable Poisson regression was used to assess the relative risk of unplanned ICU transfers and CDEs. RESULTS: The study population included 220 PEWS elevations from 176 unique patients. Of those, 33% had fever (n = 73), 40% experienced an unplanned ICU transfer (n = 88), and 19% experienced CDEs (n = 42). Bivariable analysis revealed that febrile patients were less likely to experience an unplanned ICU transfer than those without fever. The same association was found in multivariable analysis with only marginal significance (adjusted relative risk 0.68; 95% confidence interval 0.45-1.01; P = .058). There was no difference in the CDE risk for febrile versus afebrile patients (adjusted relative risk 0.79; 95% confidence interval 0.43-1.44; P = .44). CONCLUSIONS: At our institution, patients with an elevated PEWS appeared less likely to experience an unplanned ICU transfer if they were febrile. We were underpowered to evaluate the effect on CDEs. These findings contributed to our recognition that (1) PEWS may not include all relevant clinical factors used for clinical decision-making regarding care escalation and (2) further study is needed in this area.

Couples' voluntary counselling and testing and nevirapine use in antenatal clinics in two African capitals: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: With the accessibility of prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services in sub-Saharan Africa, more women are being tested for HIV in antenatal care settings. Involving partners in the counselling and testing process could help prevent horizontal and vertical transmission of HIV. This study was conducted to assess the feasibility of couples' voluntary counseling and testing (CVCT) in antenatal care and to measure compliance with PMTCT. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted over eight months at two public antenatal clinics in Kigali, Rwanda, and Lusaka, Zambia. A convenience sample of 3625 pregnant women was enrolled. Of these, 1054 women were lost to follow up. The intervention consisted of same-day individual voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and weekend CVCT; HIV-positive participants received nevirapine tablets. In Kigali, nevirapine syrup was provided in the labour and delivery ward; in Lusaka, nevirapine syrup was supplied in pre-measured single-dose syringes. The main outcome measures were nurse midwife-recorded deliveries and reported nevirapine use. RESULTS: In eight months, 1940 women enrolled in Kigali (984 VCT, 956 CVCT) and 1685 women enrolled in Lusaka (1022 VCT, 663 CVCT). HIV prevalence was 14% in Kigali, and 27% in Lusaka. Loss to follow up was more common in Kigali than Lusaka (33% vs. 24%, p = 0.000). In Lusaka, HIV-positive and HIV-negative women had significantly different loss-to-follow-up rates (30% vs. 22%, p = 0.002). CVCT was associated with reduced loss to follow up: in Kigali, 31% of couples versus 36% of women testing alone (p = 0.011); and in Lusaka, 22% of couples versus 25% of women testing alone (p = 0.137). Among HIV-positive women with follow up, CVCT had no impact on nevirapine use (86-89% in Kigali; 78-79% in Lusaka). CONCLUSIONS: Weekend CVCT, though new, was feasible in both capital cities. The beneficial impact of CVCT on loss to follow up was significant, while nevirapine compliance was similar in women tested alone or with their partners. Pre-measured nevirapine syrup syringes provided flexibility to HIV-positive mothers in Lusaka, but may have contributed to study loss to follow up. These two prevention interventions remain a challenge, with CVCT still operating without supportive government policy in Zambia.