Background and Purpose-Pediatric acute stroke teams are a new phenomenon. We sought to characterize the final diagnoses of children with brain attacks in the emergency department where the pediatric acute stroke protocol was activated and to describe the time to neurological evaluation and neuroimaging. Methods-Clinical and demographic information was obtained from a quality improvement database and medical records for consecutive patients (age, ≤20 years) presenting to a single institution's pediatric emergency department where the acute stroke protocol was activated between April 2011 and October 2014. Stroke protocol activation means that a neurology resident evaluates the child within 15 minutes, and urgent magnetic resonance imaging is available. Results-There were 124 stroke alerts (age, 11.2±5.2 years; 63 boys/61 girls); 30 were confirmed strokes and 2 children had a transient ischemic attack. Forty-six of 124 (37%) cases were healthy children without any significant medical history. Nonstroke neurological emergencies were found in 17 children (14%); the majority were meningitis/encephalitis (n=5) or intracranial neoplasm (n=4). Other common final diagnoses were complex migraine (17%) and seizure (15%). All children except 1 had urgent neuroimaging. Magnetic resonance imaging was the first study in 76%. The median time from emergency department arrival to magnetic resonance imaging was 94 minutes (interquartile range, 49-151 minutes); the median time to computed tomography was 59 minutes (interquartile range, 40-112 minutes). Conclusions-Of pediatric brain attacks, 24% were stroke, 2% were transient ischemic attack, and 14% were other neurological emergencies. Together, 40% had a stroke or other neurological emergency, underscoring the need for prompt evaluation and management of children with brain attacks.

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ObjectiveIn paediatric moderate-to-severe asthmatics, there is significant bronchospasm, airway obstruction, air trapping causing severe hyperinflation with more positive intraplural pressure preventing passive air movement. These effects cause an increased respiratory rate (RR), less airflow and shortened inspiratory breath time. In certain asthmatics, aerosols are ineffective due to their inadequate ventilation. Bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) in acute paediatric asthmatics can be an effective treatment. BiPAP works by unloading fatigued inspiratory muscles, a direct bronchodilation effect, offsetting intrinsic PEEP and recruiting collapsed alveoli that reduces the patient's work of breathing and achieves their total lung capacity quicker. Unfortunately, paediatric emergency department (PED) BiPAP is underused and quality analysis is non-existent. A PED BiPAP Continuous Quality Improvement Program (CQIP) from 2005 to 2013 was evaluated using descriptive analytics for the primary outcomes of usage, safety, BiPAP settings, therapeutics and patient disposition.InterventionsPED BiPAP CQIP descriptive analytics.SettingAcademic PED.Participants1157 patients.InterventionsA PED BiPAP CQIP from 2005 to 2013 for the usage, safety, BiPAP settings, therapeutic response parameters and patient disposition was evaluated using descriptive analytics.Primary and secondary outcomesSafety, usage, compliance, therapeutic response parameters, BiPAP settings and patient disposition.Results1157 patients had excellent compliance without complications. Only 6 (0.5%) BiPAP patients were intubated. BiPAP median settings: IPAP 18 (16,20) cm H2O range 12–28; EPAP 8 cmH2O (8,8) range 6–10; inspiratory-to-expiratory time (I:E) ratio 1.75 (1.5,1.75). Pediatric Asthma Severity score and RR decreased (p<0.001) while tidal volume increased (p<0.001). Patient disposition: 325 paediatric intensive care units (PICU), 832 wards, with 52 of these PED ward patients were discharged home with only 2 hours of PED BiPAP with no returning to the PED within 72 hours.ConclusionsBiPAP is a safe and effective therapeutic option for paediatric patients with asthma presenting to a PED or emergency department. This BiPAP CQIP showed significant patient compliance, no complications, improved therapeutics times, very low intubations and decreased PICU admissions. CQIP analysis demonstrated that using a higher IPAP, low EPAP with longer I:E optimises the patient's BiPAP settings and showed a significant improvement in PAS, RR and tidal volume. BiPAP should be considered as an early treatment in the PED severe or non-responsive moderate asthmatics.

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