Scalp Staples Placed in a Pediatric Emergency Department: Feasibility and Benefits of Home Removal.

OBJECTIVES: Scalp lacerations are a common occurrence in the pediatric population. A preferred method of closure in a busy pediatric emergency department (PED) is skin staples, because of their ease of use and rapid application. However, using skin staples also demands that the child have a follow-up visit for their removal. This study examines whether caregivers can be taught how to safely remove their child's skin staples at home, obviating the need for a return clinic visit and its associated costs. METHODS: This is a prospective, convenience study of 30 children older than 4 years presenting with a scalp laceration that the attending physician chose to close with skin staples. Caregivers of enrolled children completed an initial survey and received training in skin staple removal in the PED. Upon discharge, caregivers were given the staple removal device and specific instructions indicating the date for staple removal and how to access an online video reviewing proper staple removal technique. Caregivers were contacted after anticipated staple removal for completion of a follow-up survey. We recorded caregiver success rate at staple removal and measured potential benefits with regard to lost wages, transportation costs, and missed school time. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Twenty-eight (93%) of 30 enrolled caregivers were successful in completely removing their child's staples; one caregiver did not attempt removal and another was lost to follow-up. Twenty-five caregivers (83%) completed follow-up surveys. All caregivers reported that if given a future choice, they would prefer to remove their child's staples at home rather than return to a clinic and all said that they would be "very comfortable" if they needed to remove staples again in the future. Sixty-four percent of caregivers estimated that it would have taken greater than 2 hours to attend a clinic for staple removal. Thirty-two percent of caregivers would have lost greater than US $100 in wages. Eighty-eight percent of children would have missed school time, with 46% having to miss an entire school day. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers who were taught how to remove their child's scalp staples in the PED before discharge were highly successful at home. Ninety-three percent of enrolled patients had their staples completely removed and no complications were reported. Benefits included avoiding lost wages, lost time attending a follow-up clinic, and lost time from school. Staple removal is a simple technique that can easily be taught to caregivers in a matter of minutes and lead to greater patient and parent satisfaction.

Development of a novel measure of overcrowding in a pediatric emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding has been quantified with a scale that reflects the degree of overcrowding (National ED Overcrowding Scale, or NEDOCS) in general academic EDs. However, validity of the 5-question NEDOCS scale has not been established for a pediatric ED. Our primary objectives were to validate the NEDOCS model in our institution's pediatric ED and explore the possibility of another pediatric ED overcrowding model that would be better than the NEDOCS model. METHODS: Objective data were determined by prospectively collecting 20 variables at 42 random site-sampling times in one pediatric ED. Data were obtained by counting patients, determining patient's times, and obtaining information from registration, triage, and ancillary services. The 5 questions needed for the NEDOCS scale were among the data collected. Expert consensus (EC) was obtained using a Likert scale completed by the charge nurse and ED physicians who rated the degree of overcrowding. National ED Overcrowding Scale scores were compared with EC score to determine predictive validity of a model for a pediatric ED. Spearman correlation and multivariable linear regression were used to evaluate individual variables. RESULTS: Overcrowding based on EC score was found in 18 (44%) of 41 times in the pediatric ED. In pediatric EDs, high correlations were found between EC score and NEDOCS (0.68), number of patients in the waiting room (0.74), full rooms (0.64), and total registered patients (0.65). In a multivariable analysis, a combination of patients in the waiting room and total registered patients had a high correlation (0.80) with EC score in the pediatric ED. CONCLUSIONS: Overcrowding is quantifiable in a pediatric ED. Although the NEDOCS performed well in the pediatric ED, it was outperformed by other variables and other variable combinations. In this pediatric ED, a combination of 2 variables, total registered patients and patients in the waiting room, was a better model than the NEDOCS score for quantifying pediatric ED overcrowding.