Multicountry review: developmental surveillance, assessment and care by outpatient paediatricians.

BACKGROUND: Care of young children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) is a major component of paediatric outpatient practice. However, cross-country practice reviews to date have been limited, and available data demonstrate missed opportunities for early identification, particularly in vulnerable population subgroups. METHODS: Multicountry review of national paediatric body guidance related to developmental surveillance, early identification and early childhood intervention together with review of outpatient paediatrician practices for developmental assessment of children aged 0-5 years with/at risk of NDDs. Review included five countries with comparable nationalised universal child healthcare systems (ie, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK). Data were collected using a combination of published and grey literature review, supplemented by additional local sources with descriptive review of relevant data points. RESULTS: Countries had broadly similar systems for early identification of young children with NDDs alongside universal child health surveillance. However, variation existed in national paediatric guidance, paediatric developmental training and practice, including variable roles of paediatricians in developmental surveillance at primary care level. Data on coverage of developmental surveillance, content and quality of paediatric development assessment practices were notably lacking. CONCLUSION: Paediatricians play an important role in ensuring equitable access to early identification and intervention for young children with/at risk of NDDs. However, strengthening paediatric outpatient care of children with NDD requires clearer guidance across contexts; training that is responsive to shifting roles within interdisciplinary models of developmental assessment and improved data to enhance equity and quality of developmental assessment for children with/at risk of NDDs.

Dexmedetomidine for Prolonged Sedation in the PICU: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to systematically describe the use of dexmedetomidine as a treatment regimen for prolonged sedation in children and perform a meta-analysis of its safety profile. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and CINAHL were searched from inception to November 30, 2018. STUDY SELECTION: We included studies involving hospitalized critically ill patients less than or equal to 18 years old receiving dexmedetomidine for prolonged infusion (≥ 24 hr). DATA EXTRACTION: Data extraction included study characteristics, patient demographics, modality of dexmedetomidine use, associated analgesia and sedation details, comfort and withdrawal evaluation scales, withdrawal symptoms, and side effects. DATA SYNTHESIS: Literature search identified 32 studies, including a total of 3,267 patients. Most of the studies were monocentric (91%) and retrospective (88%); one was a randomized trial. Minimum and maximum infusion dosages varied from 0.1-0.5 µg/kg/hr to 0.3-2.5 µg/kg/hr, respectively. The mean/median duration range was 25-540 hours. The use of a loading bolus was reported in eight studies (25%) (range, 0.5-1 µg/kg), the mode of weaning in 11 (34%), and the weaning time in six of 11 (55%; range, 9-96 hr). The pooled prevalence of bradycardia was 2.6% (n = 10 studies; 14/387 patients; 95% CI, 0.3-7.3; I = 75%), the pooled prevalence incidence of bradycardia was 2.6% (n = 10 studies; 14/387 patients; 95% CI, 0.3-7.3; I = 75%), the pooled incidence of hypotension was 6.1% (n = 8 studies; 19/304 patients; 95% CI, 0.8-15.9; I = 84%). Three studies (9%) reported side effects' onset time which in all cases was within 12 hours of the infusion starting. CONCLUSIONS: High-quality data on dexmedetomidine use for prolonged sedation and a consensus on correct dosing and weaning protocols in children are currently missing. Infusion of dexmedetomidine can be considered relatively safe in pediatrics even when longer than 24 hours.

Nontraumatic tension pneumopericardium in nonventilated pediatric patients: a review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Pneumopericardium is a rare air leak syndrome caused by the abnormal presence of air in the pericardial sac, with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. It is clinically divided into nontension and tension pneumopericardium, with the latter resulting in a decreased cardiac output and circulatory failure. There are limited data regarding nontraumatic pneumopericardium in nonventilated pediatric patients. Therefore, we aimed to describe a case of tension pneumopericardium and review the available literature. METHODS: Case report and literature review of nontraumatic pneumopericardium in nonventilated pediatric patients. RESULTS: A 2-month-old infant developed cardiac tamponade secondary to tension pneumopericardium 11 days after cardiac surgery promptly resolved with pericardium drainage. We reviewed the literature on this topic and retrieved 50 cases, of which 72% were nontension whereas a minority were tension pneumopericardium (28%). Patients with tension pneumopericardium were mostly neonates (35.7% vs 22.2%), presented with an isolated air leak (64.3% vs 36.1%), and had a history of surgery (28.6% vs 8.3%) or hematological disease (28.6% vs 11.1%). In all nontension cases, treatment was conservative, whilst in all other cases, pericardiocentesis/pericardium drainage was carried out. There was a high survival rate (86.0%), which was lower in patients with tension pneumopericardium (71.4% vs 91.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Pneumopericardium is a rare condition with a higher mortality rate in patients with tension pneumopericardium, which requires immediate diagnosis and treatment. In nonventilated patients, tension pneumopericardium occurred more frequently in neonates, as an isolated air leak, and in those with a history of surgery or hematological disease.