scholarly journals A Retrospective Study Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Asthma Clinical Pathway in Pediatric Inpatient Practice

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-241
Author(s):  
Elisa Edwards ◽  
Kristie Fox

OBJECTIVE To determine if the asthma clinical pathway implemented at Wolfson Children's Hospital reduces the length of hospital stay. To determine if pathway use affected the use of asthma education, the use of appropriate discharge medications based on asthma classification, and readmission rates. METHODS A list of patients aged 2 to 18 years discharged from Wolfson Children's Hospital between September 1, 2004 and August 31, 2006 with the diagnosis of asthma was generated. Medical records of eligible patients were reviewed for demographic information, asthma pathway use, duration of hospital stay in days, readmission rates, receipt of asthma education, and medications prescribed upon discharge. Patients placed on the asthma clinical pathway were compared to a control group with asthma who were matched based on age and discharge date. Length of stay was averaged for each group. Asthma education, discharge medications, and readmission rates were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Forty-three patients placed on the asthma clinical pathway were compared to a 43 patients in the control group that were matched for age and discharge date. Use of the asthma clinical pathway reduced hospital stay by 0.372 days (P = .0373). Receipt of asthma education (P = .3864), the use of appropriate drug therapy prescribed upon discharge (P = .1398), and readmission rates (P = .5486) were unaffected by pathway use. CONCLUSIONS The asthma clinical pathway used at Wolfson Children's Hospital reduces length of hospital stay, but has no bearing on receipt of asthma education, use of appropriate drug therapy upon discharge, or readmission rates.

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. S354-S354
Author(s):  
Chelsea Zhu ◽  
Sabeen Sidiki ◽  
Brittany Grider ◽  
Brian Fink ◽  
Nicole Hubbard ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is a leading cause of pediatric hospitalizations in the US and are generally caused by viruses, thus antibiotics are prescribed more often than needed. Identifying viral agents using the respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) can help with judicious use of antibiotics in hospitalized patients. ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital, a mid-sized pediatric hospital, began offering the RPP to patients in Dec 2014. This study was conducted to assess if the use of RPP would decrease the antibiotic days of therapy (DOT) and length of hospital stay for patients admitted for uncomplicated ARI and for those seen in the ED. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of pediatric hospital inpatient and ED data collected between December 16, 2013 and December 15, 2015. Patients before and after implementation of the RPP were compared. 299 and 263 pediatric patients between 1 month to 18 years of age with uncomplicated ARIs in the pre-RPP and post-RPP periods, respectively, were included for analysis. Similarly, 472 and 461 patients were included from the ED. Clinical data were collected by chart review. Analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results Out of 299 admitted patients in the post-RPP period, 63 (21.1%) patients did not receive the RPP (RPP-NT). 201 (67.2%) received it and tested positive (RPP-P), and 35 (11.7%) patients tested negative (RPP-N). RPP-N had an increased length of hospital stay (P = 0.055, borderline significance) and increased number of antibiotic DOT (P = 0.032) than RPP-P. Furthermore, we discovered that older patients (mean = 6.21 years) tested negative with RPP, while younger patients either did not receive the test (mean = 2.43 years) or tested positive (mean = 2.40 years). In the ED, RPP-P received fewer discharge prescriptions for antibiotics than RPP-N and RPP-NT (P < 0.01). The use of RPP was more prevalent in admitted patients than in ED patients (P = 0.01). Conclusion Our results suggest that the use of RPP effectively curbs unnecessary antibiotic use for pediatric patients with viral ARIs. Furthermore, age discrepancies among RPP-P, RPP-N, and RPP-NT warrant further study. Lastly, the results suggest that use of RPP in ED should be encouraged. Disclosures C. Zhu, IDSA Foundations Medical Scholars Program 2015–2016: Member, Educational scholarship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Zhu ◽  
Sabeen Sidiki ◽  
Brittany Grider ◽  
Brian Fink ◽  
Nicole Hubbard ◽  
...  

This study was a retrospective analysis of inpatient and emergency department (ED) data on respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) testing between December 16, 2013, and December 15, 2015, at a mid-sized children’s hospital. We assessed whether RPP decreases antibiotic days of therapy and length of hospital stay for pediatric patients with acute respiratory infections. In the inpatient population, patients testing positive with RPP were given fewer antibiotic days of therapy (2.99 vs 4.30 days; P = .032) and had shorter hospital stays (2.84 vs 3.80 days; P = .055) than patients testing negative. In the ED population, patients testing positive with RPP received fewer discharge prescriptions for antibiotics than patients not tested (8.8% vs 41.1%; P < .001). RPP use was more prevalent in admitted patients than in ED patients (78.9% vs 7.3%; P < .001). Our results suggest that RPP testing curbs antibiotic use and decreases length of hospital stay.


Author(s):  
Dr.Randa Mohammed AboBaker

Postoperative Ileus (POI) is one of the most common problems after obstetrics, gynecologic and abdominal surgeries. Sham feeding, such as gum chewing, accelerates the return of bowel function and the length of hospital stay. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of chewing gum on bowel motility in women undergoing post-operative cesarean section. Intervention study was used at the Postpartum Department of Maternity and Children Hospital, KSA. A randomized controlled clinical trial research design. Through a convenience technique, 80 post Caesarian Section (CS) women were included in the study. Data were collected through three tools: Tool (I): Socio-demographic data and reproductive history interview schedule. Tool (II): Postoperative Assessment Sheet. Tool (III): Outcomes of gum chewing and the length of hospital stay.  Method: subjects were assigned randomly into two groups of (40) the experimental and (40) the control. Subjects in the study group were asked to chew two pieces of sugarless gum for 30 min/three times daily in the morning, noon, and evening immediately after recovery from anesthesia and in Postpartum Department; while subjects in the control group followed the hospital routine care. Each woman in both groups was tested abdominally using a stethoscope to auscultate the bowel sounds and asked to report immediately the time of either passing flatus or stool. Results: illustrated that a highly statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups concerning their gum chewing outcomes. Where, P = 0.000. The study concluded that gum chewing is safe, well tolerated and appears to be effective in reducing the incidence and consequences of POI following CS.


2011 ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Hung Viet Bui ◽  
Thi Cu Nguyen

Objective: In Vietnam, obesity is increasing particularly in many large cities. Adult cardiovascular diseases are often derived from cardiovascular disorders during the children period. The implementation of early measures to prevent atherosclerosis, such as weight control, better lipid control will reduce the cardiovascular complications, such as hypertension (HTA), coronary heart diseases and some other diseases. Materials and Methods: Overweight - obese children from 5 to 15 years old who visited the Children's Hospital in Can Tho from May 2009 to May 2010. Total number of patients were chosen as 50 children. Method: Descriptive cross-sectional. Children in the study underwent Doppler ultrasound exam to evaluate cardiac morphology and cardiac function. Results: There were increases in left ventricular systolic diameter, left ventricular diastolic diameter, LV mass in overweight-obese children in the study compared with controls at all ages (p <0.05 ). Left ventricular ejection fraction in overweight-obese children in the study was lower than the control group at all ages (p> 0.05). The average rate of left ventricular shortening of overweight-obese children in the study was 34.8 ± 4.5(%). There was no difference in the rate of shortening of the left ventricle in overweight-obese children in the study compared with controls (p>0.05). There was no relationship between variation in morphology and left ventricular function with the degree of overweight-obesity in this study. Conclusion: The study showed that disturbances in morphology and left ventricular function in overweight-obese children but did not find a strong association with the disorder degree of overweight-obesity.


Author(s):  
Wesam Sourour ◽  
Valeria Sanchez ◽  
Michel Sourour ◽  
Jordan Burdine ◽  
Elizabeth Rodriguez Lien ◽  
...  

Objective This study aimed to determine if prolonged antibiotic use at birth in neonates with a negative blood culture increases the total cost of hospital stay. Study design This was a retrospective study performed at a 60-bed level IV neonatal intensive care unit. Neonates born <30 weeks of gestation or <1,500 g between 2016 and 2018 who received antibiotics were included. A multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to determine if clinical factors contributed to increased hospital cost or length of stay. Results In total, 190 patients met inclusion criteria with 94 infants in the prolonged antibiotic group and 96 in the control group. Prolonged antibiotic use was associated with an increase length of hospital stay of approximately 31.87 days, resulting in a $69,946 increase in total cost of hospitalization. Conclusion Prolonged antibiotics in neonates with negative blood culture were associated with significantly longer hospital length of stay and increased total cost of hospitalization. Key Points


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Zhi Li ◽  
Guihe Chen ◽  
Feng Wang

This work was aimed at exploring the adoption value of the optimized and upgraded esophageal ultrasound in the treatment of patients with ventricular septal defect (VSD) by artificial fish swarm algorithm. A model was built based on artificial fish swarm algorithm. A random ultrasonic optical signal in the database was decomposed several times and sparsity was optimized to complete partial optimization, which was then extended to global optimization. A total of 100 patients with ventricular septal defect were divided into control group who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass under the guidance of three-dimensional thoracic ultrasound and experimental group of ventricular septal defect occlusion under the guidance of esophageal ultrasound based on artificial fish swarm algorithm. The results showed that the number of successful cases in the experimental group was 12 cases of perimembranous type, 10 cases of septal type, 7 cases of simple membranous type, 13 cases of muscular type, 4 cases of subdry type, and 2 cases of ridge type. The average length of operation after surgery was 70.65 minutes, the average length of ventilator ventilation was 125.8 minutes, and the average length of intensive care unit was 377.9 minutes. The average length of hospital stay after surgery was 5.6 days, and the average total length of hospital stay was 8.2 days, which were better than the control group in many aspects, with statistical significance ( P < 0.05 ). In short, the artificial fish swarm algorithm for esophageal ultrasound-guided ventricular septal defect closure had short operation time and good postoperative effect, which was of high application value in the clinical treatment of patients with ventricular septal defect.


1988 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 207-208
Author(s):  
Gunnar B. Stickler

The term "polypharmacy" is used to describe the excessive use of drug therapy. In 1980, I reviewed the evidence of a continuing epidemic of polypharmacy.1 In 1975, there were 1.7 billion visits per year to physicians in private practice.2 Such visits to a family physician resulted in the prescription of medications to 73% of the patient contacts; in 63% of the patient visits, medications were suggested by a pediatrician. Do two thirds of our patients require medication when seen in an ambulatory setting? Pediatric hospitals did not fare much better. Of 993 patients admitted to a children's hospital, 36.7% received antibiotics.3 Using strict criteria, these authors concluded that 38% of medical patients received antibiotics inappropriately and 78% of the surgical patients did not require antibiotics.


Author(s):  
Avril Owen ◽  
Waqas Khan ◽  
Keith D Griffiths

The use of troponin T to facilitate early patient discharge was investigated in a prospective study in a district general hospital. Troponin T was measured in 91 patients admitted over a period of 6 months with chest pain but without evidence of myocardial infarction. The main outcome measure was length of hospital stay. A negative troponin T was found in 70 patients. Fifty of these were discharged within 24h of the troponin result being available and they had a significantly shorter hospital stay than a case-control group and a historical control group from the previous 6 months. Troponin T measurement has a role in altering patient management by enabling early discharge, resulting in significant cost savings and increasing bed availability.


2012 ◽  
Vol 187 (4S) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatum Tarin ◽  
Andrew Feifer ◽  
Simon Kimm ◽  
Ling Chen ◽  
Daniel Sjoberg ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 089719002097961
Author(s):  
Daniel Colon Hidalgo ◽  
Vishali Amin ◽  
Arushi Hukku ◽  
Kathryn Kutlu ◽  
Megan A. Rech

Introduction: Etomidate is commonly used for induction of anesthesia for rapid sequence intubation (RSI). It has little impact on hemodynamic status, making it a widely used agent. Due to the inhibition of cortisol production, etomidate causes adrenal suppression. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a correlation with etomidate use and the incidence of secondary infections. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort of hospitalized patients who received either etomidate or control (ketamine, propofol, or no agent) for RSI. The primary endpoint was the incidence of secondary infections. Secondary outcomes included number of mechanical ventilator-free days within 28 days, 30-day mortality, length of hospital stay, and length of intensive care unit stay. Results: A total of 434 patients were reviewed, of which 129 (29.7%) met the study criteria (n = 94 etomidate; n = 35 control). The incidence of secondary infection was numerically higher in the etomidate group compared with the control group, though this was not statistically significant (38.7% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.447). Also, though the secondary outcomes showed no statistically significant difference between the groups, the patients in the control group had a longer hospital stay (14.0 vs. 18.1, p = 0.20) and a longer ICU stay (11.0 vs. 14.1, p = 030). Furthermore, the etomidate group had a non-statistically significant higher incidence of bacteremia (8 vs. 0, p = 0.17) Conclusion: The use of etomidate was not associated with increased incidence of secondary infection. To fully understand the effects of etomidate use and its subsequent adrenal suppression, larger studies are needed.


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