Discrepancies Between the Management of Fever in Young Infants Admitted From Urban General Emergency Departments and Pediatric Emergency Departments

Variations in Management and Clinical Outcomes for Children With Diabetic Ketoacidosis in an Academic Pediatric Versus Community Emergency Department Setting

OBJECTIVES

Our objectives were to characterize variations from standardized, evidence-based guidelines in the management of pediatric patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) based on initial presentation to a tertiary pediatric emergency department (PED) versus a community emergency department (OSH) and compare clinical outcomes.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study on children 18 years and younger with DKA who presented to an OSH or PED over a 3-year period. Treatments monitored for variation included intravenous fluid management, insulin delivery, and sodium bicarbonate administrations. Clinical outcomes included time to anion gap correction and on insulin infusion, hypokalemia, hypoglycemia, rapid serum glucose decline, cerebral edema, mechanical ventilation, mortality, and time from initial presentation to hospital discharge.

RESULTS

Children with DKA who presented to an OSH (n = 250) were more acidotic (pH 7.11 vs. 7.13, P = 0.001) and had larger anion gaps (28.8 vs. 25.5, P < 0.001) compared with children presenting to the PED (n = 237). The OSH patients were more likely to receive larger fluid boluses (>20 cc/kg or >1000 ml, 43% vs. 4%, P < 0.001), sodium bicarbonate (5% vs. 0%, P < 0.001), and intravenous bolus insulin (28% vs. 0%, P < 0.001). The OSH group were less likely to be started on maintenance intravenous fluids (70% vs. 99%, P < 0.001) or receive potassium in maintenance intravenous fluids (14% vs. 42%, P < 0.001). The OSH group had longer anion gap correction times (754 vs. 541 mins, P < 0.001), insulin infusion times (1018 vs. 854 min, P = 0.003), and times to hospital discharge (3358 vs. 3045 mins, P < 0.001). Incidence of hypokalemia, hypoglycemia, rapid glucose decline, cerebral edema, and deaths were similar between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated significant variations in the initial management of pediatric DKA patients by OSH facilities that deviated from an evidence-based treatment pathway utilized by a PED. Statewide quality improvement initiatives could help improve the overall clinical care provided to pediatric DKA patients.

Child Health Needs and the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Workforce: 2020-2040

Approximately 30 million ill and injured children annually visit emergency departments (EDs) in the United States. Data suggest that patients seen in pediatric EDs by board-certified pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians receive higher-quality care than those cared for by non-PEM physicians. These benefits, coupled with the continued growth in PEM since its inception in the early 1990s, have impacted child health broadly. This article is part of a Pediatrics supplement focused on predicting the future pediatric subspecialty workforce supply by drawing on the American Board of Pediatrics workforce data and a microsimulation model of the future pediatric subspecialty workforce. The article discusses the utilization of acute care services in EDs, reviews the current state of the PEM subspecialty workforce, and presents projected numbers of PEM subspecialists at the national, census region, and census division on the basis of this pediatric subspecialty workforce supply model through 2040. Implications of this model on education and training, clinical practice, policy, and future workforce research are discussed. Findings suggest that, if the current growth in the field of PEM continues on the basis of the increasing number and size of fellowship programs, even with a potential reduction in percentage of clinical time and attrition of senior physicians, the PEM workforce is anticipated to increase nationally. However, the maldistribution of PEM physicians is likely to be perpetuated with the highest concentration in New England and Mid-Atlantic regions and "PEM deserts" in less populated areas.