Correction to: Full title: peripheral venous catheter complications in children: predisposing factors in a multicenter prospective cohort study.

Following publication of the original article [1], one of the authors flagged that the title of the article was submitted (incorrectly) with "Full title:" at the beginning.

Peripheral venous catheter complications in children: predisposing factors in a multicenter prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral venous catheterization (PVC) is frequently used in children. This procedure is not free from potential complications. Our purpose was to identify the types and incidences of PVC complications in children and their predisposing factors in a developing country. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational multicenter study in five pediatric and pediatric surgery departments over a period of 2 months. Two hundred fifteen PVC procedures were conducted in 98 children. The times of insertion and removal and the reasons for termination were noted, and the lifespan was calculated. Descriptive data were expressed as percentages, means, standard deviations, medians and interquartile ranges. The Chi2 test or the Fisher test, with hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI95%), as well as Student's t test or the Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare categorical and quantitative variables, respectively, in groups with and without complications. The Spearman test was used to determine correlations between the lifespan and the quantitative variables. The Kruskal Wallis test was used to test for differences in the median lifespan within 3 or more subgroups of a variable. Linear regression and logistic binary regression were used for multivariate analysis. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The mean lifespan was 68.82 ± 35.71 h. A local complication occurred in 111 PIVC (51.9%) cases. The risk factors identified were a small catheter gauge (24-gauge) (p = 0.023), the use of a volume-controlled burette (p = 0.036), a longer duration of intravenous therapy (p < 0.001), a medical diagnosis of respiratory or infectious disease (p = 0.047), the use of antibiotics (p = 0.005), including cefotaxime (p = 0.024) and vancomycin (p = 0.031), and the use of proton pump inhibitors (p = 0.004).The lifespan of the catheters was reduced with the occurrence of a complication (p < 0.001), including the use of 24-gauge catheters (p = 0.001), the use of an electronic pump or syringe(p = 0.036) and a higher rank of the intravenous device in each patient (p = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: PVC complications were frequent in our pediatric departments and are often associated with misuse of the device. These results could engender awareness among both doctors and nurses regarding the need for rationalization of the use of PVC and better adherence to the recommendations for the use of each drug and each administration method.

Prognostic factors in children with extracranial malignant germ cell tumors: a monocentric pediatric Tunisian study.

Background Extracranial Germ cell tumors (GCT) are a rare and a heterogeneous group of pediatric cancers but highly curable. Aim We aimed to review management, outcome and prognostic factors that influence overall survival (OS) in a pediatric Tunisian oncologic unit. Methods We retrospectively evaluated between January 1998 and December 2012, 33 patients affected by extracranial germ cell tumors and treated according to TGM95 protocol established by the SFOPin a pediatric Tunisian oncologic unit. Results Patients had a mean age of 57 months (ranges: 1 day-13 years). There were 19 girls and 14 boys. Primary sites included 12 sacrococcygeal, 11 ovarian, 6 testicular, 3retro peritoneal and 1 mediastinal site. After a mean follow up of 26.1 months (ranges: 0-96 months), OSat 2 years and 5 years were respectively 82% and 75%. Event-free survival were respectively 79% at 2 years and 74% at 5 years. Various prognostic factors have been studied according to Kaplan-Meier. Univariate analyses identified significant factors which influence strongly OS: the stage (p=0.04), the completeness of surgery (p<0.001) and the relapse (p = 0, 0001). A multivariate study showed that only the quality of resection and the clinical stage remained strong significant prognostic factors (p=0,021) for 5-year OS. Conclusion Disease stage, completeness of surgery and relapse have been established as the most powerful prognostic parameter in our analysis. The improvement of survival of patients affected by extracranial germ cell tumors in Tunisia is a real achievement mainly due to the success of salvage treatments.