Chloral hydrate enteral infusion for sedation in ventilated children: the CHOSEN pilot study

Managing the deteriorating child with suspected group A Streptococcus infection

Group A Streptococcus bacteria can cause various pyogenic infections such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis, scarlet fever, impetigo, erysipelas, cellulitis and pneumonia. Most group A Streptococcus infections in children are mild and respond positively to treatment with antibiotics. However, some children develop severe infection accompanied by complications such as sepsis and will require urgent treatment, which may include non-invasive or invasive ventilation and the administration of fluids and vasoactive agents. In some instances, for example if there are no beds available in the paediatric intensive care unit, these interventions may be undertaken in a ward setting. This article gives an overview of group A Streptococcus infection, including two rare but severe complications, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and necrotising fasciitis. It uses a fictionalised case study to examine the management of the deteriorating child with suspected group A Streptococcus infection, including respiratory support, haemodynamic support and symptom management.

Retrospective observational study of chloral hydrate use in mechanically-ventilated pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients 2012-2017

Introduction: Chloral hydrate (CH) has long been utilized as a pediatric procedural sedation agent. However, very little is published describing CH use in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) setting. The aim of this retrospective observational cohort study was to investigate and describe the use of CH in mechanically-ventilated, critically ill children at a large pediatric tertiary referral hospital. Methods: Data were extracted from the hospital electronic medical record and a locally maintained registry of all children admitted to the PICU between 2012 and 2017. Patients admitted to the cardiovascular ICU were not included in this review. The clinical and pharmacy data for 3806 consecutive PICU admissions of mechanically-ventilated, critically ill children were examined. Results: 283 admissions received CH during their first ICU stay. CH-exposed children were younger (16 months vs. 35 months, p < 0.001), the median total dose of CH (indexed to duration of ventilation) was 11 mg/kg/day, the median time to first CH dose was 3 days and more CH doses were administered at night (1112 vs. 958, p < 0.001). We constructed a propensity score to adjust for the differences in patients with and without CH exposure using logistic regression including variables of age, sex, diagnosis, and PRISM3 score. After adjustment, the median length of mechanical ventilation was 5 days longer in the CH-exposed group (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 4-6) compared to unexposed CH patients. Similarly, the median length of ICU duration was 9.4 days longer (95% CI 7.1-11.6) and median length of hospital admission duration was 13.2 days longer (95% CI 7.8-18.6) in CH-exposed patients compared to CH-non-exposed. After adjustment, CH-exposed patients had a 9% higher median exposure to HFOV (95% CI 3.9-14.6), but did not have higher median exposures to new tracheostomy (95% CI -0.4-2.2) or ECMO (95% CI -0.2-5.0). Discussion: As part of an extended sedation regimen in mechanically-ventilated and critically ill children, CH is associated with somewhat higher complexity of illness and longer ICU durations.

Simple method to detect triclofos and its metabolites in plasma of children by combined use of liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Triclofos sodium (TCS) and chloral hydrate (CH) are widely used as sedatives for children, but no analytical method to simultaneously monitor concentrations of blood TCS, CH and their metabolites, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and trichloroethanol (TCEOH), has been reported. The present study aimed to develop a simple analytical method for TCS and its metabolites (TCA, TCEOH and CH) in small-volume plasma from children. After acidification of specimens, TCS formic acid adduct or the metabolites derivatized using water/sulfuric acid/methanol (6:5:1, v/v) were measured by combined use of liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography mass-spectrometry. The limits of detection and quantification levels (µg/ml) were 0.10 and 0.29 for TCS, 0.24 and 0.72 for TCA, 0.10 and 0.31 for TCEOH, and 0.25 and 0.76 for CH, respectively. The mean recoveries were 82.8-107% for TCS, 85.4-101% for TCA, 91.6-107% for TCEOH, and 88.9-109% for CH. Within-run and between-run precision (percent of relative standard deviation, %RSD) using this method ranged from 1.1 to 15.7% and 3.6 to 13.5%, respectively, for TCS and all of its metabolites. The calibration curves were obtained with standard spiked plasma, and all of the coefficients of determination were more than 0.975. Subsequently, we applied the present method to plasma taken from five children after sedation induced by CH and TCS. In addition to TCS and CH, elevated TCA and TCEOH concentrations were detected. This new method can be applied for the pharmacokinetic analysis of TCS and its metabolites and the determination of the optimal TCS dosage in children.

Study of Feasibility and Safety of Higher-Dose Dexmedetomidine in Special Outpatient Examination of Pediatric Ophthalmology

Objective

To investigate the feasibility and safety of higher-dose dexmedetomidine in ophthalmological outpatient examination of children with cataract.

Methods

100 cases of children were recruited in the study and randomly equally divided into two groups. One group was given 2 μg/kg intranasal dexmedetomidine anesthesia, while the other group was under 3 μg/kg. The dosage of dexmedetomidine was calculated by the same anesthesiologist according to the weight of patient. After sufficient sedation, the same ophthalmologist performed ocular examinations manually, including intraocular pressure, keratometry, axial length, and corneal thickness and recorded the ocular position score during intraocular pressure measurement and corneal thickness measurement. Other variables were sedation onset time, recovery time, vital signs, and side effects.

Results

In intraocular pressure measurement, only one case in the 2 μg/kg group did not complete the examination, while all cases in the 3 μg/kg group completed the examination and the difference of the success rate between the two groups was nonsignificant (P > 0.05). The success rates of the 3 μg/kg group in corneal curvature, axial length, and corneal thickness examination were 96%, 92%, and 86%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the 2 μg/kg group (22%, 18%, and 4%). The average onset time of sedation in the 3 μg/kg group was 15.42 ± 2.09 minutes, which was significantly shorter than that in the 2 μg/kg group (19.52 ± 2.43 minutes, P < 0.001). The average time of completing all examinations in the 3 μg/kg group was 18.36 ± 4.01 minutes, which was significantly shorter than that in the 2 μg/kg group (22.62 ± 4.13 min, P < 0.001). The recovery time of group 3 μg/kg was 90.62 ± 27.80 min, which was significantly longer than that of group 2 μg/kg (49.20 ± 15.50 min). Vital signs such as pulse, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and heart rate kept in normal range throughout the tests, and no obvious side effects were observed.

Conclusion

3 μg/kg intranasal dexmedetomidine had a higher sedation success rate and quality than 2 μg/kg did in pediatric ocular examinations, without any obvious side effects.