For decades, the teaching in pediatric emergency medicine has been consistent: “Young febrile infants (0-28 days) with fevers get a full sepsis workup.” This traditionally means blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures, followed by admission and antibiotics. The fear of missing bacterial meningitis—a devastating infection—has driven this aggressive approach. But is a lumbar puncture […]
Introduction When a child with sickle cell disease (SCD) arrives at the Emergency Department with a pain crisis, families understandably want to know: how long until we can go home? The answer, it turns out, may depend less on patient characteristics and more on the hospital itself and other characteristics like history of chronic pain […]
Introduction We know how to evaluate febrile infants 0-60 days thanks to prior PECARN studies [1] and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations [2], which identify infants who are at low risk (<1% risk of invasive bacterial infections). But what about the 61-90 days old febrile infant!? Invasive bacterial infections (bacteremia and/or bacterial meningitis) […]
Children with minor head trauma who have altered mental status but no other PECARN risk factors have a very low risk of serious brain injury – and none in this large study required neurosurgery. The Clinical Dilemma Every day, emergency physicians face a common dilemma: a child comes in after hitting their head and seems […]
In emergency medicine, the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) serves as a crucial tool for assessing the consciousness level of patients with head injuries. But how reliable is the GCS in determining the need for head imaging or neurosurgical intervention in children? A groundbreaking study by Johnson, Nishijima, and Kuppermann examines the link between GCS scores […]
Study Overview Professional research dissemination requires dedicated infrastructure—not an afterthought. From 2020 to 2023, PECARN teamed up with Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) to develop and manage a systematic social media strategy (specifically Twitter/X) focused on amplifying research impact. This deliberate investment in professional digital scholarship has been documented in a peer-reviewed study published […]
Background Spinal motion restriction (SMR) has been a cornerstone of prehospital trauma care for decades, based on the premise that immobilization prevents secondary spinal cord injury. However, a new PECARN study published in Prehospital Emergency Care reveals a striking disconnect between SMR application and actual cervical spine injury (CSI) rates in children—raising important questions about […]
Background Researchers have discovered that artificial intelligence systems called large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT and Claude, can effectively analyze patient and community feedback in emergency research settings. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, investigators evaluated how well these AI tools could assess community perspectives within the Exception from Informed Consent (EFIC) process, […]
Background Pediatric asthma exacerbations represent a significant burden on emergency departments, with over 1.2 million ED visits and 110,000 hospitalizations annually in the United States. While many treatment options exist for the emergency care of asthma (such as albuterol, ipratropium bromide, and corticosteroids), some children continue to have persistent symptoms and require hospitalization despite these […]
Introduction Vaso-occlusive episodes (VOEs) remain the primary cause of morbidity in sickle cell disease (SCD), with management heavily reliant on opioid analgesics. Early literature suggests that VOEs may be related to an arginine deficiency. Arginine produces nitric oxide (a potent vasodilator), improves mitochondrial function, and decreases oxidative stress. It is also the precursor for kyotorphin, […]
