Prehospital use of spinal precautions by emergency medical services in children and adolescents.

Objectives: Limited evidence exists to guide the management of children with possible spinal injuries in the prehospital setting. As a first step to address this, we set out to describe the epidemiology and management of children <18 years presenting with possible cervical spinal injuries to EMS in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: Retrospective case record review of all children with concerns of head or neck trauma and/or documented cervical spine collar use presenting to the statewide Ambulance Victoria (AV) EMS service, Victoria, Australia, between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020.

Triage tools for detecting cervical spine injury in paediatric trauma patients.

Background: Paediatric cervical spine injury (CSI) after blunt trauma is rare but can have severe consequences. Clinical decision rules (CDRs) have been developed to guide clinical decision-making, minimise unnecessary tests and associated risks, whilst detecting all significant CSIs. Several validated CDRs are used to guide imaging decision-making in adults following blunt trauma and clinical criteria have been proposed as possible paediatric-specific CDRs.

Pain in children with Bell's palsy: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To describe the prevalence and severity of pain experienced by children with Bell's palsy over the first 6 months of illness and its association with the severity of facial paralysis.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data obtained in a phase III, triple-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of prednisolone for the treatment of Bell's palsy in children aged 6 months to <18 years conducted between 13 October 2015 and 23 August 2020 in Australia and New Zealand. Children were recruited within 72 hours of symptom onset and pain was assessed using a child-rated visual analogue scale (VAS), a child-rated Faces Pain Score-Revised (FPS-R) and/or a parent-rated VAS at baseline, and at 1, 3 and 6 months until recovered, and are reported combined across treatment groups.

Emergency department presentations for chest complaints after mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations in children and adolescents.

Objective: To investigate characteristics and management of children presenting with chest complaints to a tertiary paediatric ED post-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Methods: This was a retrospective medical record review with data linkage to the Australian Immunisation Register. The study setting was the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.

Agreement of Clinician-Administered and Modified Parent-Administered House-Brackmann Scales in Children with Bell's Palsy.

Objective: Currently there is no parent administered scale for facial nerve function in children. We set out to assess the agreement between a newly developed parent-administered modified version of the House-Brackmann (HB) scale and the standard clinician-administered HB scale in children with Bell's palsy.

Study Design: Secondary analysis of a triple-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of corticosteroids to treat idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell's palsy) in children (6 months to <18 years).

Agreement Between House-Brackmann and Sunnybrook Facial Nerve Grading Systems in Bell's Palsy in Children: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Multicenter Trial.

Background: There is limited evidence on the use of facial nerve function grading scales in acute facial nerve paralysis in children.

Objective: To investigate the agreement between and the usability of the House-Brackmann and Sunnybrook scales in children with idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell's palsy) and to compare their ease of administration.

Methods: Data from a randomized controlled trial in children aged 6 months to <18 years with Bell's palsy was used.

Incidence of traumatic brain injuries in head-injured children with seizures.

Objective: Incidence and short-term outcomes of clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI) in head-injured children presenting to ED with post-traumatic seizure (PTS) is not described in current literature.

Methods: Planned secondary analysis of a prospective observational study undertaken in 10 Australasian Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) network EDs between 2011 and 2014 of head-injured children <18 years with and without PTS. Clinical predictors and outcomes were analysed by attributable risk (AR), risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), including the association with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores.

PECARN algorithms for minor head trauma: Risk stratification estimates from a prospective PREDICT cohort study.

Background: The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) head trauma clinical decision rules informed the development of algorithms that risk stratify the management of children based on their risk of clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI). We aimed to determine the rate of ciTBI for each PECARN algorithm risk group in an external cohort of patients and that of ciTBI associated with different combinations of high- or intermediate-risk predictors.

Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of a large multicenter prospective data set, including patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 14 or 15 conducted in Australia and New Zealand.

Neonatal head injuries: A prospective Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative cohort study.

Aim: To characterise the causes, clinical characteristics and short-term outcomes of neonates who presented to paediatric emergency departments with a head injury.

Methods: Secondary analysis of a prospective data set of paediatric head injuries at 10 emergency departments in Australia and New Zealand. Patients without neuroimaging were followed up by telephone call.