A single serum concentration of GFAP, UCH-L1, or S-100β within 6 hours of head injury may be useful in identifying and stratifying the severity of brain injury in emergency department patients with head trauma, but cannot reliably exclude a diagnosis of concussion. A positive GFAP was associated with the presence of concussion.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02926573.

Objective The impact of hearing loss (HL) on quality of life (QOL) in young children has not been examined systematically. The objective of this study was to examine patient, parent, and professional perspectives on experiences and situations that affect the QOL in young children with HL and to identify themes that emerged from coded data to develop a parent-proxy QOL measure for young children with HL. Study Design Qualitative study with 6 focus groups followed by semistructured interviews with other parents and professionals as stakeholder checks. Setting Academic medical center and local schools for the deaf. Methods Audiology department clinic lists were used to identify eligible participants, who included 5- to 7-year-old children with permanent HL and parents of 2- to 7-year-old children with permanent HL. A sample of 6 children and 12 parents participated in focus groups. An audiology department and multiple schools for the deaf in the area were contacted to recruit for professional participants, resulting in a sample of 10 professionals who participated in focus groups. Focus groups and interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis of focus group transcripts identified key concepts and emerging themes of how HL affects young children. Results Six themes emerged from the data: behavior, feelings, environments, social/activities, family, and hearing equipment. Child, parent, and professional focus group themes overlapped well, and data saturation was reached. Conclusion These qualitative data provided insight into HL-related issues affecting young children’s QOL and were used to create items for a new parent-proxy QOL questionnaire.

Objective: To describe cases and timing of pediatric post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage (PTH), to evaluate predictors of PTH, and to determine the optimal amount of postoperative care unit (PACU) monitoring time. Study Design: Using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database and electronic medical records, a matched case-control study from 2005 to 2015 was performed. Setting: A single, tertiary-care institution. Subjects and Methods: Each case of PTH was matched with 1 to 4 controls for the following factors: age, sex, surgeon, and time of year. A total of 124 cases of PTH and 479 tonsillectomy controls were included. The rate and timing of postoperative bleeding were assessed, and matched pair analysis was performed using conditional logistic regression. Results: Our institutional PTH rate of 1.9% (130 of 6949) included 124 patients; 15% (19) were primary (≤24 hours), with 50% (9) occurring within 5 hours. Twenty-one percent (4 of 19) of primary PTH patients received operative intervention. Eighty-five percent (105 of 124) of all cases were secondary PTH, and 47% (49) of those patients received operative intervention. Cold steel (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.3) and Coblation (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2-3.1) techniques and tonsillectomy alone (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.9-7.2) increased odds of PTH. Patients who developed PTH had 4 times the odds of having a preceding postoperative respiratory event than controls (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.6-10.0). Conclusion: We conducted a rigorous case-control study for PTH, finding that PTH was associated with use of cold steel and Coblation techniques and with tonsillectomy alone. Patients with a postoperative respiratory event may be more likely to develop a PTH and should be counseled accordingly. A PACU monitoring time of 4 hours is sufficient for outpatient tonsillectomy.

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