Background:

The attention provided to the seriously ill represents a great challenge for health care professionals; familiarity with this profile will allow for the optimal use of resources and will also lead to an improvement in the training of the health professionals. We sought to understand the characteristics of patients seen in the resuscitation room (RR) of a pediatric emergency department (PED), and to determine the risk factors for a poor evolution.

Methods:

An observational analytical study was carried out in the PED of a third-level pediatric hospital from September 2016 through August 2017. Included were those patients attended to in the RR; we analyzed their demographic variables, where they were from, how they arrived at the hospital, their reasons for seeking care (medical vs accident), procedures applied, treatments given, diagnoses, and discharge destination. We used logistic regression analysis to determine the independent risk factors for poor evolution.

Results:

Included were 114 patients. Their median age was 9.9 years (p25-75=4.0-14.7); 65.8% were male. The patients arrived from the street (51.8%) and from home (31.6%); more than two thirds arrived by ambulance (69.3%). Some 42.1% presented with an unstable pediatric assessment triangle (PAT). Some 64.9% were seen for polytrauma (87.8% with stable PAT). Procedures were carried out on 79.8% of the patients. The most frequent diagnoses were polytrauma (64.9%) and convulsive status (14%). The discharge destinations were: home (28.1%), hospital ward (35.1%), intensive care unit (30.7%), and surgery (4.4%); two patients died in the RR. With the univariate study, we identified risk factors for poor outcome: internal medical condition (52.5% vs 21.6%, p=0.001) and age <2 years (55.6% vs 28.1%, p=0.023). In the multivariate study, the medical cause was maintained as an independent risk factor (OR 4 (CI 95% 1.7-9.2), p=0.001).

Conclusions:

The profile of the patient seen in the RR is of a school-age child in stable condition, arriving by ambulance for polytrauma. The children seen for internal medical reasons had poorer outcomes.

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