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The 48th Bubble Wrap

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With millions upon millions of journal articles published yearly, it is impossible to keep up.  Every month we ask some of our friends from PERUKI (Paediatric Emergency Research in the UK and Ireland) to point out something that has caught their eye.

Article 1: An update on PIMS-TS/MIST-C

Flood J, Shingleton J, Bennett E, Walker B, Amin-Chowdhury Z, Oligbu G, Avis J, Lynn RM, Davis P, Bharucha T, Pain CE. Paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS): Prospective, national surveillance, United Kingdom and Ireland, 2020. The Lancet Regional Health-Europe. 2021 Apr 1;3:100075.

What’s it about? 

During the first breakout of PIMS-TS, Public Health England (PHE) and the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) requested reports of PIMS-TS, Toxic shock syndrome (TSS), and Kawasaki Disease (KD) to be submitted for prospective national surveillance. This study looks at patients under the age of 16 who presented with symptoms between 1 March and 15 June 2020. The symptoms for diagnosing PIMS-TS were set out per RCPCH guidance (fever >38, CRP>100, no infection proven and evidence of one at least system dysfunction) along with strict criteria for KD and TSS. From these reports, patients were excluded if they did not meet any PIMS-TS, resulting in 268 cases of PIMS-TS meeting diagnostic criteria.

Why does it matter? 

Children have made up a small proportion of the direct clinical burden due to COVID-19. However, cases worldwide began to appear of PIMS-TS associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. More information was needed to map this disease process and use clinical data to explain the clinical characteristics of PIMS-TS and the epidemiology between these overlapping clinical conditions.

The results of the study showed the median age to be eight years, with PIMS TS/KD subgroup younger (5 years) and PIMS TS/TSS older (8 years) than PIMS TS only cases (7 years). 60% of the population was male, and patients from the BAME community seem disproportionately affected, especially within London.

Patients who exhibited PIMS-TS with features of TSS also seemed to fare worse with a more significant number of interventions, longer hospital stays and severity of illness. Thirty-five cases were felt clinically in keeping with PIMS-TS despite not meeting the CRP criteria. Parental occupation was reported in just under half of the cases, and more than 2 out of 3 were reported as healthcare workers. Over 1 in 3 children had evidence of current or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Clinically Relevant Bottom Line:

Presentations of PIMS-TS are strongly linked with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and those with features similar to toxic shock syndrome tend to be more unwell. Children in London and the BAME population seem disproportionately represented, with the most severe presentations. The epidemiological links are similar to that of other countries.

Reviewed by: Laura Riddick

Article 2: Screening adolescents for the risk of suicide attempts

Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) King CA, Brent D, Grupp-Phelan J, et al., (2021) Prospective Development and Validation of the Computerized Adaptive Screen for Suicidal Youth. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 3:e204576

What’s it about? 

A prospective 2-part study with data collection being undertaken at different EDs in the United States, which are part of the PECARN network. Introduction of computerised adaptive testing (CAT), which, put simply, is a tool that takes individuals’ responses to questions and determines their standing on the measured trait, e.g., risk of a suicide attempt. This offers the possibility of a more individualised, accurate screening tool.

Two studies ran independently:

Study 1(2015-2016): used CAT to develop a screening tool (computerised adaptive screen for suicidal youth CASSY) that targets items to the individual’s risk profiles to provide a continuous risk score for the likelihood of suicide attempt (SA) within three months.

Study 2 (2017-2018): Prospectively validated CASSY.

In Study 1, adolescents aged 12 – 17 years who presented to ED were offered to complete the Ask Suicide Questions (ASQ) and Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-CSSR). Depending on these responses, the participants were stratified into low, medium or high risk for suicide attempts. Then, a random selection of these was assigned to follow-up, which was done by interviewers who were blinded to the baseline data and were responsible for the 3-month telephone follow-up up which assessed the number of suicide attempts made by the patient during this time.

CASSY was then developed using questions from these screening tools (identified to have high suicide attempt predictive value) and was cross-validated in Study 1 before its use in Study 2. Subsequently, adolescents aged 12 – 17 who presented to ED were offered to complete CASSY.

The authors have used a multivariate logistic regression model to predict suicide attempts during the three months follow-up. Based on this, the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrates a sensitivity of 82.4% for predicting suicide attempts using the CASSY score, at a specificity of 80% with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.87 [95% CI, 0.85-0.89].

For a reminder on these types of stats, take a look at this DFTB post.

Some crucial exclusions in this study population were being a ward of the state (e.g. adolescent in foster care) and non-English speaking participants, which from previous studies are shown to be significant risk factors for altered mental health.

Why does it matter? 

Data from Australia (and worldwide) show that our adolescent population suffers from increasing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. With those illnesses often come suicidal ideation, and when these patients reach crisis point, they present to our emergency departments (ED). One of the biggest challenges to all suicidal risk screening is accurately identifying at-risk young people in a setting where efficiency is required. Existing screening tools such as (ASQ) have shown moderate sensitivity to predicting suicide risk, meaning some individuals at risk were not identified.

Clinically Relevant Bottom Line:

This study shows the CASSY tool has a good sensitivity (ability to pick up) for those at risk of a suicide attempt. Early and accurate recognition of mental health illnesses and suicidal ideation in primary health care settings and emergency departments is an essential first step in managing these issues.

Reviewed by: Tina Abi Abdallah

Article 3: The use of minimally invasive surfactant therapy

Roberts CT, Halibullah I, Bhatia R, Green EA, Kamlin CO, Davis PG, Manley BJ. Outcomes after Introduction of Minimally Invasive Surfactant Therapy in Two Australian Tertiary Neonatal Units. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2021 Feb 1;229:141-6.

What’s it all about?

This 18-month prospective audit collected data on patient demographics and clinical outcomes following the introduction of minimally invasive surfactant therapy (MIST) in two neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Australia. Infants were eligible for MIST if they received CPAP support with a clinical or radiological diagnosis of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). They were excluded if they had significant congenital anomalies, circulatory compromise, recent apnoeas or a diagnosis other than RDS.

Why does it matter?

MIST is a less invasive method of administering exogenous surfactant for treating RDS in premature infants compared to previous surfactant administration by endotracheal tube. Previous meta-analysis highlighted that MIST is associated with reduced need for mechanical ventilation and adverse events such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia and death compared to endotracheal intubation. However, it isn’t easy to make clear conclusions about the efficacy of MIST versus endotracheal tubing for surfactant administration, as many other factors can affect the success rate. These include gestational age, surfactant dose and timing of procedure (as prophylactic after birth versus an early rescue approach within the first 24 hours of life. As MIST and endotracheal intubation require laryngoscopy, the authors stress the continued need to adequately train junior staff and suggest the use of routine video laryngoscopy regularly to allow for second operator confirmation and potentially increased rates of success.

135 MIST procedures were performed. The median gestation was 30 weeks, and the median birth weight was 1439 grams. All infants received supplementary oxygen before MIST. The most common adverse event was peripheral oxygen desaturation to <80%, which occurred in 3 out of 4 MIST procedures. Other events included bradycardia <100 beats per minute (13 out of 100) and the need for positive pressure ventilation (1 in 10). Positively, over 2/3rds of infants treated with MIST did not require further intubation and mechanical ventilation, and senior clinicians had higher rates of procedural success. Surfactant administration was successful in all but one MIST procedure due to patient’s apnoea requiring intubation.

The Bottom Line:

The authors determined that MIST can be successfully adopted into clinical practice in settings where staff have limited prior experience. Rates of adverse events mentioned above were comparable to results from previous randomised trials. Over 2/3 of infants in this study with MIST did not require further intubation and ventilation. 

Reviewed by: Ivy Jiang

Article 4: Can we perform phototherapy at home?

Pettersson M, Eriksson M, Albinsson E, Ohlin A. Home phototherapy for hyperbilirubinemia in term neonates—an unblinded multicentre randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Pediatrics. 2021 Jan 19:1-8.

What’s it about?

Within the first week of life, 60% of term babies and 80% of pre-term babies will have some degree of jaundice. This study looked at well term babies and whether delivering phototherapy at home, with daily hospital reviews, would be an acceptable alternative to inpatient phototherapy.

This was an unblinded, randomised control trial of 147 jaundiced neonates across six hospitals in Sweden. To be included, babies had to be well, >48 hours old, have a gestational age >36+0 and have a raised serum bilirubin (SBR). Parents also had to be capable of performing phototherapy at home and agree to return daily for review and blood tests. Babies were excluded if they had a high bilirubin result (>400µumol/L), weight loss of >10% of birth weight, any ongoing infection or illness, or blood group incompatibility.

Babies were randomly selected to receive home phototherapy (78) vs hospital phototherapy (69). Babies in both groups were reviewed daily in the hospital, and a daily SBR and weight. Home treatment was done by Bilisoft (Bilibed), which was provided with eye protection and clear instructions. This study could not find any statistically significant differences that suggested that either therapy was superior to the other. Only 3 in 78 babies of the home phototherapy neonate were converted to hospital treatment. No one across either group had SBRs high enough to require IVIG or blood exchange. There was no statistically significant difference regarding the duration of phototherapy, time until discharge, amount of blood tests, weight loss or adverse events.

Why does it matter?

Jaundice is one of the most common reasons for prolonged postnatal hospitalisation and readmissions in the postnatal period. Hospital management of jaundice can negatively impact bonding and attachment; it can be inconvenient for families and is associated with a significant cost to the healthcare system.

The bottom line

This study shows that with daily reviews and monitoring, home phototherapy could be an effective and safe alternative to hospital phototherapy for otherwise healthy, term neonates. When determining the appropriateness for home phototherapy, bilirubin levels, geographic location and ability to commute, parental anxiety, and the capability of parents/carers must all be considered.

Reviewed by: Phoebe Campbell

Article 5: How is procedural sedation performed in Europe?

Sahyoun C, Cantais A, Gervaix A, Bressan S, Löllgen R, Krauss B. Pediatric procedural sedation and analgesia in the emergency department: surveying the current European practice. European journal of pediatrics. 2021 Jan 28:1-5.

What’s it about?

This cross-sectional study of European paediatric procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) was endorsed by the Research in European Paediatric Emergency Medicine (REPEM) network, with data collection between November 2019 and March 2020. 

The study aimed to describe PSA practice across Europe, perform a needs assessment-like analysis, and identify barriers to PSA implementation.

Online questionnaires were distributed to a target number of either 10 or 5 emergency departments within each country (depending on their population) via country-specific lead research coordinators. The survey included a clinical case scenario with subsequent questions covering eight key themes. These ranged from managing a patient requiring PSA, protocols and safety and barriers limiting PSA implementation. The questionnaire was revised several times following input from each country lead, accounting for variations in relevance, language, and grammar between countries until a consensus was achieved containing 30 questions. A senior clinician completed questionnaires at each site, with 171 hospitals contributing data from 19 countries. The UK and Ireland were not included due to a similar project running in these locations simultaneously.

Midazolam (100%) and ketamine (91%) were the most available PSA medications, followed by propofol (67%), nitrous oxide (56%) and intranasal fentanyl (47%). 8 in 10 of the sites reported sedation being performed by general paediatricians. However, just over 1 in 3 of the areas stated all staff performing PSA were paediatric advanced life support certified, and only 1 in 2 required PSA-specific course completion. Safety and monitoring guidelines for PSA were present in most sites (7 out of 10), and 1 in 2 had pre-procedural checklists in place, with these sites most likely to perform IV sedation. Capnography was present in just under half of the sites.

Barriers to PSA implementations included lack of physical space (1 in 2 of sites) and shortages of both nurses and clinicians (both more than 2/3rds of sites). Interestingly, half of the sites reported nurse-led triage protocols in use for paracetamol and ibuprofen administration, with these sites experiencing the highest number of patient visits per year.

Why does it matter?

PSA is used widely across Europe. However, there is a considerable variation in the standard medications and safety measures.

Clinically Relevant Bottom Line:

 This study highlights the need for sharing best practices amongst sites with the potential for future trials to determine optimal staff training, medication use, procedural checklists and guidelines, nurse-led triage and staff and physical space allocation for PSA. The network generated as a consequence of this study could be used to facilitate such work in the future.

Reviewed by: Joshua Tulley

If we have missed out on something useful or you think other articles are worth sharing, please add them in the comments!

That’s it for this month. Many thanks to all of our reviewers who have taken the time to scour the literature so you don’t have to.

All articles reviewed and edited by Vicki Currie.

Author

  • Vicki is a Paediatric Registrar in the West Midlands in the UK , starting PEM in September 2021. Vicki is passionate about good communication in teams and with patients along with teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level. When not editing Bubble wrap Vicki can be found running with her cocker spaniel Scramble or endlessly chatting with friends.

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