Hospital Medicine News

The optimal duration of antibiotic therapy has been a matter of some debate, and increasingly, research is showing that shorter durations are just as effective as longer courses for many infections.

Moderate and late preterm infants may receive better care at NICUs with fewer complex services, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Blood culture contamination was significantly reduced when phlebotomists used an initial specimen diversion device on patients vs. the use of traditional venipuncture, according to a recent study.

Non-Hispanic Black adults had higher rates of delayed appendicitis diagnoses in the ED compared with white adults, putting them at greater risk for perforated appendicitis and post-surgery infection, a recent study found.

Children hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a secondary viral infection like respiratory syncytial virus or rhinovirus were around twice as likely to have severe respiratory illness, a study found.

Patients with injection drug use-associated infections were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital or die when they were treated by a clinical team that integrated infectious disease and substance use disorder care, researchers found.

Patients who undergo procedures requiring anesthesia should be asked about cannabis use, according to new guidelines released today by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

Edible cannabis exposures increased rapidly among young children in the United States in the past 5 years after many states’ legalized recreational cannabis, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

Children with mental or behavioral health conditions are more likely to experience pharmacologic restraint in the ED if they are young, male or Black, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

Approximately 7.4 million patients are misdiagnosed in EDs every year, according to a report from the HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.