News

Rates of medical errors yielded by solicited family reporting were 5 times higher than the rates provided by hospital incident reports and the rates of adverse events (AEs) were 3 times higher, a study in 4 pediatric hospitals found. Most hospitals primarily use incident reports to conduct patient safety surveillance.

Since the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published its first recommendations regarding fruit juice 16 years ago, pediatricians have been waving off parents from serving young children apple and other fruit juices in bottles and sippy cups, encouraging water be given instead, because of both caloric and dental caries concerns. Now the AAP has issued a new policy statement that goes further than ever on what constitutes optimal quantities of fruit juice product consumption for children of all ages.

A study in 150 asthmatic children (aged 9 to 17 years) found an interaction between family relationships and residential greenspace, suggesting that children with asthma benefit when they live in high greenspace areas and have positive family relationships.

Certain polymorphisms in mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and toll-like receptors (TLRs), genes that have a role in the innate immune system, promote susceptibility to or protection against respiratory and rhinovirus infections and acute otitis media (AOM), according to a study in Finnish infants.

A 13-year-old boy with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes (T1D) presents to the emergency department (ED) for evaluation of left ear pain and left facial weakness.

Diarrhea, abdominal pain, and flatulence following ingestion of milk or products containing milk are common complaints in pediatric practices. The pediatrician needs to be aware of the management of lactose intolerance to help guide a reasonable workup and plan.

Older, larger children using omega-3 fatty acid supplements as therapy for mood disorders-as well as those taking the supplement for general brain and heart health-may need more of the essential nutrient than smaller children, leading researchers to call for new studies into weight-appropriate dosing.

Eating disorders often begin when an adolescent tries to lose weight. New AAP guidance provides tools to address the unhealthy eating behaviors that put teens at risk.

Previous studies conducted in animals and in humans have suggested that DHA might be helpful in reducing the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). However, the results of a very recent study demonstrated that the supplementation of an emulsion containing DHA did not reduce the risk of preterm infants developing BPD compared with infants who received a control emulsion without DHA.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) refers to a spectrum of abnormalities that range in severity from mild instability to frank dislocation. The vast majority of clinical and anatomic hip abnormalities identified in early infancy resolve spontaneously. Left untreated, however, a hip that is persistently unstable and anatomically abnormal can lead to functional limitations, pain, and premature degenerative changes.

Readers of Contemporary Pediatrics will be pleased to know that according to Merritt-Hawkins, one of the nation’s leading physician search firms, the average starting salary offered to recruit pediatricians rose from $195,000 in 2015 to $224,000 in 2016, a 15% increase. You may be curious how your current compensation as well as your compensation model compares with that of your colleagues. More importantly, there may be ways for you to earn more-or avoid a painful pay cut if your patient visits are dwindling.

You are asked to evaluate a healthy 9-year-old girl with an itchy rash on her face, neck, and hands for a week. She had a similar eruption 1 month ago that resolved over several days. Although she has a history of poison ivy, her parents knew of no exposure. There was no history of new topical skin products. However, she had begun to eat more seasonal fruits recently, including strawberries, grapes, and mangos.

Traditionally, first positions for graduating registered nurses (RNs) are hospital based, where many have expertise and experience in emergency management. However, when RNs attend graduate school to become primary care nurse practitioners, planning for managing emergencies in an outpatient medical office may or may not have been a part of graduate education.

For Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr Bobby Lazzara discusses a report published in the Health Services Research that examined how Washington state reduced the number of antipsychotic prescriptions written for children in the Medicaid system.

A recent study found that there is a significant familial link in otitis media requiring tympanostomy tubes in both close and distant relatives, with shared environments possibly playing a role, given the fivefold increased risk seen in siblings.

Ear infections remain a top reason for parents to bring their children to the pediatrician-and the top reason for antibiotic prescriptions among pediatric patients. Diagnosis and treatment methods vary, but a new study reveals that a 10-day course of treatment with antibiotics in cases of acute otitis media (AOM) may be the gold standard.

Most children are not being adequately vaccinated against influenza, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also just published a new report demonstrating the efficacy of the vaccine in reducing influenza-related deaths in children.

Despite controversy surrounding the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, more adolescents and young adults are getting vaccinated. However, overall vaccination rates of HPV compared with other teenaged-years vaccines are still low, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Parents often carry misperceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of antibiotic use for pediatric acute respiratory infections, according to an Australian survey in the Annals of Family Medicine.

After CVS, the large retail pharmacy chain, stopped selling cigarettes in its stores, many consumers who used to buy their smokes at CVS simply bought fewer cigarettes and presumably smoked less.

Focusing on emergencies became our platform to address the far more important goals of situational awareness, team integration, and effective communication. As we build increasingly matrixed systems of care that surround our littlest of patients, having addressed these goals inspires us with confidence that we can do so with the child’s safety at top of mind.

A new study found that the well-documented racial/ethnic disparities in asthma diagnosis and morbidity are diminished after accounting for material hardship.

Fewer than half of commercially insured children who have been hospitalized for asthma receive an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), even though many of them make outpatient visits within 30 days of hospital discharge.

A healthy newborn girl returns for a follow-up visit at age 7 days, and she is exhibiting multiple disseminated red macules and papules of varying sizes. While in the nursery, several red blanching macules had been noted on her trunk at age 2 days.

Studies highlight a need for pediatrician offices to be ready to handle emergencies, available data also demonstrate that many practices, including those that have already needed to treat a critically ill child, are not adequately prepared because they lack the relevant protocols, training, and tools.

A reader writes in to discuss the management conditions specifically related to stress.

Securing a child’s airway in an emergency setting can be challenging, and success here is dictated by a mosaic of factors such as clinician experience, appropriate instrumentation, and, importantly, the many anatomical and physiological considerations that differ significantly from the adult population.

Functional constipation in children is no news to pediatricians. What may be news is that recommendations on how to diagnose and treat this common malady keep evolving as more evidence becomes available.