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Pediatric asthma takes a heavy toll on patients and families alike. Affecting more than 7 million children in the U.S., it's the most common nonsurgical diagnosis for pediatric hospital admission, with costs of more than $570 million annually.
Understanding how to care for these young patients has significantly improved in the last several decades, leading the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to issue evidence-based guidelines on pediatric asthma in 1990. Despite knowing more about this respiratory ailment, overall morbidity–measured by attack rates, pediatric emergency department visits or hospitalizations–has not decreased over the last decade.
A multidisciplinary improvement initiative can reduce overuse of interventions for bronchiolitis, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.
The American Academy of Pediatrics published bronchiolitis clinical practice guidelines in 2014 recommending against the routine use of bronchodilators, chest radiographs, or respiratory viral testing in children with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis. Our aim in this project was to align care with the American Academy of Pediatrics clinical practice guidelines by decreasing the overuse of these interventions.
Critically ill children in pediatric intensive care units once were often heavily sedated and discouraged from any activities, including walking, to facilitate a speedy recovery. That approach has been turned on its head in recent years, posing new challenges to getting young patients up on their feet quickly.
Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is a rare disease in which abnormal cells build up inside the veins responsible for carrying oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart. It restricts blood flow through these vessels, eventually sealing them off entirely if left untreated. Typically affecting young children, the most severe form of PVS progresses very quickly and can cause death within a matter of months after diagnosis.
A meta-analysis of 32 studies offers mixed results regarding the relationship between early child care attendance and childhood asthma. Sending young children to preschool or day care will not increase their risk of developing asthma, instead it may help protect kids against the respiratory disease, according to the study published in the Journal of Asthma.
The newly developed UTICalc calculator can be used to guide testing and treatment in children with suspected urinary tract infection (UTI), according to a study published online in JAMA Pediatrics.
According to newly published research, even the briefest increase in airborne fine particulate matter PM2.5, pollution-causing particles that are about 3% of the diameter of human hair, is associated with the development of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children.
The recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV4) is well tolerated in children aged 6 to 17 years, and it provides immunogenicity comparable to that of the inactivated vaccine, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.
A quality improvement initiative rapidly reduced unnecessary electrolyte testing among hospitalized pediatric patients, according to a study published online in Pediatrics.
Pediatricians need to be aware of Lassa virus risk factors and treatment standards, as the virus may be an unrecognized source of infection among children newly arrived in the United States from endemic areas.
A secondary analysis found that bariatric surgery could be an effective option for very obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes, lowering blood glucose levels, improving weight loss and returning cholesterol and blood pressure levels to normal.
According to a new study, there is a rising trend of sexting among teenagers and younger children over the last decade and this may be a challenge for carers and parents alike.
