Constipation and paediatric emergency department utilization

Paediatrics & Child Health
Alison NutterQuynh Doan

Abstract

Constipation is a common condition in children. Little is known about the acute health care utilization of constipated children, including how many present to the paediatric emergency department (ED), the spectrum of presenting complaints, investigations and treatments used. We conducted a cross-sectional chart review of all 42,875 visits to British Columbia Children's Hospital ED between August 31, 2012 and September 1, 2013. All visits were assessed for a potential diagnosis of constipation and a total of 913 patients were included. We recorded the chief complaints, tests performed and therapies administered in the ED and measures of flow/efficiency including waiting time (WT), length of stay (LOS) and disposition. Constipation-related visits comprised 2.1% of overall visits. Abdominal pain was found to be the most common presenting complaint in 65.6% of patients; however, 11.9% of patients presented with complaints unrelated to the gastrointestinal tract. Abdominal radiographs were obtained in nearly one-third of patients and almost half of the patients received a fleet enema in the ED. Only a quarter of patients were discharged home on longer-term management. Measures of ED flow were similar between groups, with no meaningf...Continue Reading

References

Mar 1, 2005·Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition·Marc BenningaAnnamaria Staiano
Oct 13, 2006·The American Journal of Gastroenterology·Maartje M van den BergC Di Lorenzo
Jan 18, 2007·Pediatric Emergency Care·Melissa K MillerMegan Fraker
Feb 18, 2010·The American Journal of Emergency Medicine·Antonella DiamantiMassimo Castro
May 11, 2010·Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition·Licia PensabeneSamuel Nurko
Aug 14, 2013·Pediatrics International : Official Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society·Seksit Osatakul, Areeruk Puetpaiboon
Oct 17, 2013·The Journal of Pediatrics·Stephen B FreedmanSuzanne Schuh
May 7, 2014·Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition·Stephen B FreedmanSuzanne Schuh

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Citations

Oct 9, 2019·The Journal of Emergency Medicine·Julie AndersonMarissa A Hendrickson

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