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Holmes JF, Yen K, Ugalde IT, Ishimine P, Chaudhari PP, Atigapramoj N, Badawy M, McCarten-Gibbs KA, Nielsen D, Sage AC, Tatro G, Upperman JS, Adelson PD, Tancredi DJ, Kuppermann N. PECARN prediction rules for CT imaging of children presenting to the emergency department with blunt abdominal or minor head trauma: a multicentre prospective validation study. Lancet Child Adolesc Health 2024; 8:339-347. [PMID: 38609287 DOI: 10.1016/s2352-4642(24)00029-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The intra-abdominal injury and traumatic brain injury prediction rules derived by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) were designed to reduce inappropriate use of CT in children with abdominal and head trauma, respectively. We aimed to validate these prediction rules for children presenting to emergency departments with blunt abdominal or minor head trauma. METHODS For this prospective validation study, we enrolled children and adolescents younger than 18 years presenting to six emergency departments in Sacramento (CA), Dallas (TX), Houston (TX), San Diego (CA), Los Angeles (CA), and Oakland (CA), USA between Dec 27, 2016, and Sept 1, 2021. We excluded patients who were pregnant or had pre-existing neurological disorders preventing examination, penetrating trauma, injuries more than 24 h before arrival, CT or MRI before transfer, or high suspicion of non-accidental trauma. Children presenting with blunt abdominal trauma were enrolled into an abdominal trauma cohort, and children with minor head trauma were enrolled into one of two age-segregated minor head trauma cohorts (younger than 2 years vs aged 2 years and older). Enrolled children were clinically examined in the emergency department, and CT scans were obtained at the attending clinician's discretion. All enrolled children were evaluated against the variables of the pertinent PECARN prediction rule before CT results were seen. The primary outcome of interest in the abdominal trauma cohort was intra-abdominal injury undergoing acute intervention (therapeutic laparotomy, angiographic embolisation, blood transfusion, intravenous fluid for ≥2 days for pancreatic or gastrointestinal injuries, or death from intra-abdominal injury). In the age-segregated minor head trauma cohorts, the primary outcome of interest was clinically important traumatic brain injury (neurosurgery, intubation for >24 h for traumatic brain injury, or hospital admission ≥2 nights for ongoing symptoms and CT-confirmed traumatic brain injury; or death from traumatic brain injury). FINDINGS 7542 children with blunt abdominal trauma and 19 999 children with minor head trauma were enrolled. The intra-abdominal injury rule had a sensitivity of 100·0% (95% CI 98·0-100·0; correct test for 145 of 145 patients with intra-abdominal injury undergoing acute intervention) and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100·0% (95% CI 99·9-100·0; correct test for 3488 of 3488 patients without intra-abdominal injuries undergoing acute intervention). The traumatic brain injury rule for children younger than 2 years had a sensitivity of 100·0% (93·1-100·0; 42 of 42) for clinically important traumatic brain injuries and an NPV of 100·0%; 99·9-100·0; 2940 of 2940), whereas the traumatic brain injury rule for children aged 2 years and older had a sensitivity of 98·8% (95·8-99·9; 168 of 170) and an NPV of 100·0% (99·9-100·0; 6015 of 6017). The two children who were misclassified by the traumatic brain injury rule were admitted to hospital for observation but did not need neurosurgery. INTERPRETATION The PECARN intra-abdominal injury and traumatic brain injury rules were validated with a high degree of accuracy. Their implementation in paediatric emergency departments can therefore be considered a safe strategy to minimise inappropriate CT use in children needing high-quality care for abdominal or head trauma. FUNDING The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
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Affiliation(s)
- James F Holmes
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
| | - Kenneth Yen
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA; Children's Health, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Irma T Ugalde
- Department of Emergency Medicine, McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Paul Ishimine
- Department of Emergency Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Pradip P Chaudhari
- Division of Emergency and Transport Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nisa Atigapramoj
- Department of Emergency Medicine, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Mohamed Badawy
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA; Children's Health, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA
| | | | - Donovan Nielsen
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Allyson C Sage
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Grant Tatro
- Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Upperman
- Department of Pediatric Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - P David Adelson
- Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
| | - Daniel J Tancredi
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Nathan Kuppermann
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
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May L, Tatro G, Poltavskiy E, Mooso B, Hon S, Bang H, Polage C. Rapid Multiplex Testing for Upper Respiratory Pathogens in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Open Forum Infect Dis 2019; 6:ofz481. [PMID: 32128326 PMCID: PMC7043218 DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofz481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Acute upper respiratory tract infections are a common cause of emergency department (ED) visits and often result in unnecessary antibiotic treatment. Methods We conducted a randomized clinical trial to evaluate the impact of a rapid, multipathogen respiratory panel (RP) test vs usual care (control). Patients were eligible if they were ≥12 months old, had symptoms of upper respiratory infection or influenza-like illness, and were not on antibiotics. The primary outcome was antibiotic prescription; secondary outcomes included antiviral prescription, disposition, and length of stay (ClinicalTrials.gov# NCT02957136). Results Of 191 patients enrolled, 93 (49%) received RP testing; 98 (51%) received usual care. Fifty-three (57%) RP and 7 (7%) control patients had a virus detected and reported during the ED visit (P = .0001). Twenty (22%) RP patients and 33 (34%) usual care patients received antibiotics during the ED visit (–12%; 95% confidence interval, –25% to 0.4%; P = .06/0.08); 9 RP patients received antibiotics despite having a virus detected. The magnitude of antibiotic reduction was greater in children (–19%) vs adults (–9%, post hoc analysis). There was no difference in antiviral use, length of stay, or disposition. Conclusions Rapid RP testing was associated with a trend toward decreased antibiotic use, suggesting a potential benefit from more rapid viral tests in the ED. Future studies should determine if specific groups are more likely to benefit from testing and evaluate the relative cost and effectiveness of broad testing, focused testing, and a combined diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa May
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California, USA
| | - Grant Tatro
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California, USA
| | - Eduard Poltavskiy
- Graduate Group in Epidemiology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Benjamin Mooso
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California, USA
| | - Simson Hon
- Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California, USA
| | - Heejung Bang
- Graduate Group in Epidemiology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA.,Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Christopher Polage
- Department of Pathology, University of California Davis, Sacramento, California, USA.,Department of Pathology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
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