Video Recordings to Analyze Preventable Management Errors in Pediatric Resuscitation Bay.

OBJECTIVE: In treating patients of different ages and diseases in the pediatric resuscitation bay, management errors are common. This study aimed to analyze the adherence to advanced trauma life support and pediatric advanced life support guidelines and identify management errors in the pediatric resuscitation bay by using video recordings. METHODS: Video recording of all patients admitted to the pediatric resuscitation bay at University Children's Hospital Zurich during a 13-month period was performed. Treatment adherence to advanced trauma life support guidelines and pediatric advanced life support guidelines and errors per patient were identified. RESULTS: During the study period, 128 patients were recorded (65.6% with surgical, 34.4% with medical diseases). The most common causes for admission were traumatic brain injury (21.1%), multiple trauma (20.3%), and seizures (14.8%). There was a statistically significant correlation between accurate handover from emergency medical service to hospital physicians and adherence to airway, breathing, circulation, and disability sequence (correlation coefficient [CC], 0.205; P = 0.021), existence of a defined team leader and adherence to airway, breathing, circulation, and disability sequence (CC, 0.856; P < 0.001), and accurate hand over and existence of a defined team leader (CC, 0.186; P = 0.037). Unexpected errors were revealed. Cervical spine examination/stabilization was omitted in 40% of admitted surgical patients, even in 20% of patients with an injury of spine/limbs. CONCLUSIONS: Video recording is a useful tool to evaluate patient management in the pediatric resuscitation bay. Analyzing errors of missing the adherence to the guidelines helps to pay attention and focus on specific items to improve patient care.

Does diagnostic delay result in decreased survival in paediatric brain tumours?

To study the hypothesis that a delay in the diagnosis of paediatric brain tumours results in decreased survival outcome probability, we compared the prediagnostic period of 315 brain tumour patients (median age 6.7 years, range, 0 to 16 years) with progression-free and overall survival. The median prediagnostic symptomatic interval was 60 days (range, 0 to 3,480 days), with a median parental delay of 14 days (range, 0 to 1,835 days) and a median doctor's delay of 14 days (range, 0 to 3,480 days). The prediagnostic symptomatic interval correlated significantly with the patient age, tumour histology, tumour location and year of diagnosis, but not with gender. We then grouped the patients according to histology (low-grade glioma [n=77], medulloblastoma [n=57], high-grade glioma [n=40], craniopharyngioma [n=27], ependymoma [n=20] and germ cell tumours [n=18]). Contrary to common belief, long prediagnostic symptomatic interval or long doctor's delay did not result in decreased survival outcome probability in any of these groups. The effect of tumour biology on survival seems to be dominant and overwhelms any possible opposing effect on survival of a delay in diagnosis.

How fast does oral dexamethasone work in mild to moderately severe croup? A randomized double-blinded clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: For children with croup controversy remains over dosage and time to onset of action of oral steroids. The Cochrane Collaboration and other reviews have suggested 0.6 mg/kg dexamethasone be used (despite some evidence that 0.15 mg/kg is effective) with no expectation of benefit before 4-6 h. This randomized double-blinded clinical trial examines whether 0.15 mg/kg dexamethasone works by 30 min. METHODS: Children with croup aged above 6 months presenting to a tertiary paediatric ED with a Westley croup score of mild to moderate range (scores 1-6 out of 17) were randomized to receive either 0.15 mg/kg dexamethasone or oral placebo solution. Vital signs and croup score were recorded at study entry and every 10 min up to 1 h after administration of the study drug. The main outcome measure was croup score at 30 min. RESULTS: Each group contained 35 children. Baseline characteristics were similar, except for respiratory rate, which was higher in the placebo group. There was a growing trend to a lower croup score in the dexamethasone group, evident from 10 min and statistically significant from 30 min. CONCLUSION: For children with croup an oral dose of 0.15 mg/kg dexamethasone offers benefit by 30 min, much earlier than the 4 h suggested by the Cochrane Collaboration. This result might encourage doctors to treat more children with all severities of croup being less worried about potential side-effects and delayed benefit.

27 years of croup: an update highlighting the effectiveness of 0.15 mg/kg of dexamethasone.

OBJECTIVE: To update an earlier observational study (1980-1995) documenting dramatic improvements in the management of croup with the mandatory use of a single oral dose of dexamethasone and to ascertain whether a reduction from a dose of 0.6 to 0.15 mg/kg in 1995 maintained these improved outcomes over the next 11 years. METHODS: We evaluated retrospectively the experience of children with croup in Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, the only tertiary paediatric hospital in Western Australia, over the subsequent 11 year period from 1996 to 2006 inclusive. Data were updated from ED, general hospital and the intensive care unit records to show the numbers of children presenting to the hospital, admitted, transferred to intensive care and intubated. We also recorded the length of hospital stay and representation rate of all cases within 7 days. RESULTS: The dramatic improvements in outcomes for croup, including reduced admission rates, length of stay, transfers to the intensive care unit, intensive care unit days and number of intubations as reported in our earlier paper, were maintained using 0.15 mg/kg dexamethasone. Admission rates for croup have fallen from 30% in the early 1990s to less than 15% in recent years, whereas the representation rate has risen slightly. CONCLUSION: The improved outcomes for children with croup presenting to our paediatric ED have been maintained with a reduced, single oral dose of 0.15 mg/kg of dexamethasone.

Delay in the diagnosis of paediatric brain tumours.

UNLABELLED: The pre-diagnostic period of 252 children (median age 6.3 years, range 0-16.9 years) with primary brain tumours was assessed to analyse their clinical presentation and reasons for any delay in diagnosis. The median pre-diagnostic symptomatic interval (PSI) was 60 days (range 0-3010 days) with a parental delay of 14 days (range 0-2310 days) and a doctor's delay of 30 days (range 0-3010 days). Only 33% of brain tumours were diagnosed within the 1st month after the onset of signs/symptoms. PSI correlated significantly with patients' age and tumour histology, but not with gender, year of diagnosis or tumour location (supratentorial hemispheric, supratentorial midline, infratentorial). In children older than 2 years, most common initial signs/symptoms were headache, nausea/vomiting, seizures, squint/diplopia, ataxia and behavioural changes. In children younger than 2 years, most common initial signs/symptoms were seizures, vomiting, head tilt and behavioural changes. These signs/symptoms are by no means pathognomonic features of brain tumours, making the diagnosis in the early course often difficult. CONCLUSION: given the fact that the vast majority of patients (88% in the present study) develop further signs/symptoms, a high level of awareness, a detailed medical history and repeated correctly interpreted neurological examinations should lead to an earlier diagnosis and to a higher probability of total tumour resection.