News

Adolescents who initially screened as being at highest risk for alcohol problems on a 2-question screen were more likely than their peers to have more drinking days and be at higher risk for alcohol use disorders at 1, 2, and 3 years after the screen, a large study showed. Participants were 12- to 17-year-olds treated for a non–life-threatening injury, illness, or mental health condition in 1 of 16 pediatric emergency departments.

A 3-year old male presents with 3 days of fever (maximal temperature, 105°F), diffuse abdominal pain, and several episodes of nonbilious, nonbloody emesis and loose nonbilious, nonmucousy stools. On day 3 of illness, he was seen at an urgent care clinic where he was diagnosed with acute otitis media and prescribed amoxicillin and ondansetron. He could not tolerate any oral intake and developed red eyes, abdominal pain, and redness of his hands and feet. Later that same night, he presented to the pediatric emergency department and was admitted to the pediatric ward for management of his fever, abdominal pain, and dehydration.

A yearly research report highlights mortality risk data for cardiothoracic surgery centers across 5 categories of surgical outcomes for congenital heart defects (CHD) in children.

More providers have been recommending human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to their adolescent male patients in recent years, and the effort seems to be paying off: HPV vaccination coverage among boys aged 13 to 17 years increased from 8.3% in 2011 to 57.3% in 2016, while the proportion of providers who recommended the vaccination to this patient group increased from 14.2% to 65.5%.

Pediatric drug development has made exceptional strides in the last 10 years. The outlook going forward is remarkably positive, but new pressures to expedite the process are emerging.

A 3-month-old boy presents for evaluation of a diffuse asymptomatic rash that began on his scalp and skin creases 6 weeks ago and has spread over his trunk and extremities. This week he has begun to scratch at his neck and abdomen.

Children of women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children of nonsmoking mothers, according to the first study to investigate the association between smoking and ADHD based on nicotine serum biomarker levels rather than self-reported smoking. Further, the investigation found that as the amount of smoking increases, so does the likelihood of ADHD.

Talk to patients and their families about the benefits and risks of stimulants before initiating treatment in children with ADHD.

Neural performance scanning (NPS) technology outperforms photoscreeners for analyzing binocularity in a child’s eyes in mere seconds, and with higher sensitivity and specificity.

For Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr Bobby Lazzara discusses a retrospective cohort study published in Pediatrics that examined antibiotic prescribing behaviors for acute respiratory infections in 3 different care settings: direct-to-consumer telemedicine, urgent care, and the primary care office.

As a Physician Assistant (PA) in a highly acute and specialized level 4 neonatal/infant intensive care unit (NICU), ethical issues come up on a daily basis. How to appropriately handle this part of our job is rarely discussed, and as a PA, I had minimal training related to handling situations in which medical ethics are involved.

The dilemmas and barriers that providers encounter daily in clinical practice in attempting to maintain confidentiality for their adolescent patient while simultaneously protecting the adolescent from potential harm are daunting for providers as there are no nationally recognized, evidence-based standards addressing adolescent confidentiality and privacy issues in the delivery of quality healthcare to adolescents.

Teenaged moms may pass negative effects of young motherhood on to their children, and maybe even their grandchildren.

New research indicates that individual and brief encounters with general anesthesia during infancy result in no neurodevelopmental deficits by the school years.

Banning sales to individuals aged younger than 21 years is just one of the proposals in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) newest call to action in the fight against vaping.

A new study investigating antibiotic prescribing found that 17% of these prescriptions written for children were inappropriate-and the number climbs even higher in adults.

There are resources and guidelines available for pediatricians faced with caring for children with terminal or life-threatening conditions.

More clinical studies and safety data are needed to clarify any benefits of using probiotics for children.

Among the most common questions parents and caregivers ask pediatricians when gastro issues arise may be about the use of probiotics. Are you a probiotic pro or a probiotic novice?

Dr Farber presents some parting, philosophically oriented views on making sure we stay on the true path to best serve our patients and families.

A 1-year randomized trial in 886 adults living in the United Kingdom showed that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are more effective for smoking cessation than nicotine-replacement therapy.

A unique program addresses the crisis of pediatric and adolescent obesity and its effects on child and family health in the state of Pennsylvania.

Contemporary Pediatrics asked pediatrics and ethics experts to candidly weigh in on some of the foremost moral and ethical issues confronting pediatricians and pediatric healthcare providers today.

Children aged 24 and 36 months who spend a lot of time in front of screens do less well on standardized developmental screening tests than other children, a longitudinal group study conducted in Canada showed.

To answer the question of which after-hours care is best, pediatric practices and urgent care providers must partner to put children’s welfare first.

It’s not easy to know when a deception is acceptable and when it becomes difficult to justify. An algorithm might help pediatricians to make those decisions.