Emergency Medicine News

ORLANDO — Pediatric EDs throughout the United States have seen an increase in the number of visits due to mental health problems, according to research presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. Researchers said the rate rose highest among pediatric patients who identified as non-Hispanic black.

ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 2 million children were injured in falls from sofas and beds between 2007 and 2016, with the rates of injuries increasing during that 10-year period, according to a presentation at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A study presented here showed that children aged younger than 12 years were more likely to be shot by accident in the United States, reinforcing the need to safely store guns.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Many parents of children who require allergy treatment with epinephrine autoinjectors do not regularly use the product during an anaphylactic event, according to research presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition. A significant number of these parents were too scared or emotional to administer the potentially life-saving drug when needed, researchers said.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scald burns, a major cause of preventable injuries among children, are commonly caused by instant soups and noodles, with 20% of pediatric injuries caused by these products, according to research presented at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition.

On Halloween, children are encouraged to be creative, engage in physical activity and be more involved with their communities by trick-or-treating. Research published in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that Oct. 31 is also associated with a 10-fold increased risk for pedestrian mortality among children aged 4 to 8 years.

At least 14 million asthma-related ED visits around the world are caused by air pollution, according to research published in Environmental Health Perspectives. A significant amount of the pollution is generated by humans, researchers wrote.

Pediatric mortality rates related to motor vehicle crashes vary widely throughout the United States, and these variations can even be seen across individual counties, according to findings presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. Researchers said that children have a higher likelihood of surviving a motor vehicle crash when they are closer to a pediatric or adult trauma center.

Despite recommendations against using in the evaluation of bronchiolitis in infants, nearly one-half of cases diagnosed in American EDs are administered unneeded imaging, according to research published in JAMA.

A decision-making aid that provides parents with information on minor head injuries through illustrations and charts helped them identify symptoms of clinically important traumatic brain injury, or ciTBI, in their children, according to research published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers wrote that children of these parents also had a stronger understanding of diagnostic options available.