Pediatric health, medicine and therapeutics最新文献

Purpose: Neonatal skin care practices guided by personal experience and preferences might be substantially different across different hospital settings. The aim of this consensus recommendation is to provide clinical practice guidance to healthcare practitioners on evidence-based neonatal skin care practices from delivery-to-discharge, in hospital settings.

Patients and methods: A Scientific Advisory Board meeting on "Evidence-based Neonatal Skin Care Practices and Protocols" was held in December 2020 with an expert panel comprising neonatologists, pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists and pediatric dermatologist. Comprehensive literature search was performed up to 23 March 2021 using PubMed and Google Scholar to retrieve relevant evidence.

Results: Recommendations were developed on critical aspects of skin care in healthy full-term neonates including cleansing at birth, skin-to-skin care, cord care, diaper area care, initial and routine bathing, cleansers and emollients use, and criteria to choose appropriate skin care products. Recommendations include inclusion of skin assessment in routine neonatal care, first bath timing after cardio-respiratory and thermal stabilization, 6-24 hours after birth; bathing with water alone or adding a mild liquid cleanser could be considered appropriate as it does not impact the developing skin barrier; use of emollients is recommended for neonates with higher risk of development of eczema to maintain and enhance skin barrier function and integrity; and inclusion of skin care advice in neonatal discharge checklist. Importance of rigorous quality control, high-quality clinical trials for assessment of baby products, usage of products that are formulated appropriately for newborns, and full label transparency for baby products were highlighted. The panel identified gaps in literature and discussed the scope for future research.

Conclusion: These recommendations may help to standardize evidence-based skin care for healthy full-term neonates in Indian hospital settings to improve the quality of care that neonates receive in hospital and facilitate improvement in overall neonatal health outcomes.

Swallowing foreign bodies is common in young kids, especially those aged 6 months to 6 years. Magnet ingestion is a hazardous health issue that extremely jeopardizes the most vulnerable group, children, to risks of intestinal obstruction and worse, perforation. We, hereby, report 3 cases of magnet ingestion in the pediatric age group who had multiple beaded magnets stuck inside their GI tract over a variable period of 1 to 10 months before their presentation to the Emergency Department, King Fahad Medical City Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a paradigm shift in routine care delivery with the widespread transition to virtual care without demanding preconditions. Caregivers' satisfaction is a critical parameter to ensuring the quality of clinical service in the pediatric population. Despite this fact, such patient-related factors are under-investigated and poorly documented in developing countries such as Ethiopia. The study was aimed to assess caregivers' satisfaction regarding teleconsultations and associated factors during COVID-19 pandemic at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Methods: Health institution-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in randomly selected caregivers who were served with phone-based medical consultations during the pandemic. Data were collected by means of a pretested, structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were entered into Excel 2016 and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Logistic regression models were used to predict the association of study variables and adjusted for possible confounders.

Results: Overall, 177 (61.5%) of participants reported satisfaction with the teleconsultation. Female caregivers (AOR=1.78; 95% CI 1.05, 3.01), having family support (AOR=2.6; 95% CI 1.45, 4.65), access to a nearby laboratory (AOR=2.18; 95% CI 1.24, 3.83), having access to nearby pharmacy (AOR=2.82; 95% CI 1.63, 4.86) were found to be predictors of caregivers' satisfaction with teleconsultation in the study area.

Conclusion: A considerable number of caregivers were satisfied with the teleconsultation service during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important for healthcare providers and policy makers to strengthen the provision of teleconsultation service options for caregivers including women and those with better access to diagnostic centers and pharmacies. They should try to make teleconsultation caregiver-friendly.

Introduction: Rheumatic heart disease continues to be a public health problem worldwide. In developing countries such as Ethiopia where rheumatic heart disease is endemic, most of the patients present with complaints related to complications including heart failure, arrhythmias, pulmonary hypertension, stroke, systemic embolic events and infective endocarditis.

Objective: To identify the types and magnitude of complications in pediatric patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Methodology: Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Saint Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College, pediatric and child health department. All pediatric cardiac patients with rheumatic heart disease seen from January 1, 2018 to December 30, 2021 were included in the study.

Conclusion: The majority of patients presented to our health facility with complications which implies the need for action at the community level to detect the disease at early stage.

Recommendations: We recommend a similar large-scale study to be conducted at the national level and introduce a national RHD registry to better understand the magnitude of the problem, based on which necessary action will be undertaken. There is also a need to assess the proper implementation of screening and preventive RHD programmes.

Anemia is the most common hematologic abnormality identified in children and represents a major global health problem. A delay in diagnosis and treatment might place patients with anemia at risk for the development of rare but serious complications, including chronic and irreversible cognitive impairment. Identified risk factors contributing to the development of anemia in children include the presence of nutritional deficiencies, environmental factors, chronic comorbidities, and congenital disorders of hemoglobin or red blood cells. Pediatricians, especially those in the primary care setting, serve a particularly critical role in the identification and care of those children affected by anemia. Prompt recognition of these risk factors is crucial for developing appropriate and timely therapeutic interventions and prevention strategies.

Diaphragmatic hernia is a rare disorder in adolescents with oftentimes delayed diagnosis due to late-onset and non-specific clinical manifestations. In this report, we present a case of diaphragmatic hernia in an 18-year-old male, where initial diagnosis was complicated by confounding factors of type 1 diabetes mellitus and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. This case highlights the importance of having a high index of suspicion for diaphragmatic hernia in patients with nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms to ensure timely recognition and surgical intervention.

Background: The most important anemia next to iron deficiency is anemia of inflammation. Micronutrient deficits, such as those in zinc and iron, can be caused by intestinal permeability and gut inflammation brought on by environmental enteric dysfunction. This study was aimed to evaluate the prevalence and association of anemia with Environmental Enteropathy.

Methods: Data on water sanitation and hygiene indicators and sociodemographic characteristics were collected using structured questionnaire. The lactulose to mannitol ratio (L:M) was calculated from the concentration of both sugars in the urine. Level of Hemoglobin was detected by using Hemocue-301 digital photometer. Blood and urine sample was collected from three hundred children aged 12-59 months to determine the status of Anaemia and Environmental Enteropathy respectively.

Results: Data were analyzed by using Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and logistic regression model to indicate prevalence and association of anemia with environmental Enteropathy in children less than five years old. The prevalence of anemia in children with environmental enteropathy was 63.8% (95% CI: 57.6, 71.7), and there was a significant association (p = 0.0001, AOR 3.502, 95% CI: 1.929-6.371) between anemia and environmental enteropathy. In a multivariate analysis, children aged 1-3 years with caretakers who had no or only primary education and with monthly income of less than 3000 ETB were more likely to develop anemia.

Conclusion: The result of this study indicated that two-thirds of children less than five with environmental enteropathy had developed anemia, and there is a significant association between environmental enteropathy and anemia. Even though there are other causes of anemia, based on the findings of this study, more research is needed to identify factors associated with environmental enteropathy to mitigate anemia due to intestinal permeability or malabsorption and its impact in children under the age of five.

Introduction: More than 85% of childhood malignancies occur in developing countries with less than a 30% cure rate as opposed to more than 80% cure rate in developed countries. This disproportionately significant difference might be due to delays in diagnosis, treatment initiation, lack of adequate supportive care, and treatment abandonment. We aimed to determine the impact of overall treatment delay on induction mortality of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated at Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital (TASH).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among children who were treated from 2016 to 2019. Children with Down syndrome and relapsed leukemia were excluded from this study.

Results: A total of 166 children were included; most patients were males (71.7%). The mean age at diagnosis was 5.9 years. The median time interval from the onset of symptoms to the first TASH visit was 30 days and the median period from TASH's first clinic visit to diagnosis was 11 days. The median time to initiate chemotherapy after diagnosis was 8 days. The total median time from the first onset of symptoms to chemotherapy initiation was 53.5 days. Induction mortality was 31.3%. High-risk ALL and patients with an overall delay between 30 and 90 days were more likely to experience induction mortality.

Discussion: Patient and healthcare system delay is high compared to most studies done and a significant association has been noted with induction mortality. Efforts to expand the pediatric oncology service in the country and efficient diagnostic and treatment approach need to be established to reduce mortality associated with overall delay.

Health care transition, or HCT, is the process of adolescents and young adults moving from a child/family-centered model of health care to an adult/patient-centered model of health care. Healthcare providers have an essential role in this process which can be especially challenging for individuals with medical or special healthcare needs. Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a complex multisystem disorder requiring lifelong medical surveillance, education, and psychosocial support. This review highlights the transition needs of NF1 patients and provides resources for both clinicians and families to facilitate HCT in this population. The authors propose a framework for the development of an effective NF1 transition program by using the Six Core Elements model of the Got Transition program, reviewing existing literature, and incorporating author experiences in the care and transition of NF1 patients.

The rise in preterm births and higher survival rates of premature infants have led to a global increase in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a vasoproliferative retinal disorder common in premature infants. ROP is one of the leading causes of childhood blindness. Clinical manifestation of ROP ranges from mild abnormal retinal neovascularization to bilateral retinal detachment and vision loss. The incidence of ROP is higher in middle income countries, including India, which has the highest number of global preterm births. Low birth weight and low gestational age are the primary risk factors for ROP; however, anemia, cardiac defects, blood transfusion, apnea, sepsis, respiratory distress syndrome, high exposure to oxygen and poor postnatal weight gain may also contribute to its development. India has stringent ROP screening guidelines revised in 2018, and screening of infants with either birth weight <2000 grams or gestational age <34 weeks is mandated. With an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of ROP in the past decades and advances in clinical research, treatment for ROP has evolved from cryotherapy to laser retinal ablation. Most recently, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drugs have emerged as a favorable treatment option for zone-I and II ROP. This article reviews the current approaches for ROP treatment in India with a particular focus on anti-VEGF drugs. The article also integrates the understanding of safety and risk-benefit evaluation of the current approaches in ROP management. The review concluded that there is a need to increase the ROP screening not only for preterm and low birth weight but also for optimal gestational age infants with healthy birth weight. Anti-VEGF therapies have shown improved efficacy, although studies are required to establish the long-term safety.