Epidemiology and risk stratification of young infants presenting to the emergency department with hypothermia.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Hypothermic infants are presumed to be at high risk for a serious bacterial infection (SBI) or herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. In contrast to febrile infants, the emergency department (ED) management of hypothermic infants is variable in the absence of consensus guidelines, potentially resulting in low-value care and missed diagnoses. We investigated the diagnostic workup conducted for hypothermic infants in our academic pediatric ED, the incidence of SBI and HSV infection, and risk factors associated with infection.

Methods

We conducted a single-center retrospective study of infants ≤90 days of age with a rectal temperature ≤36.5°C in the ED between 2013 and 2022. From their medical records, we abstracted the type(s) of testing each infant received in the ED

SUBMITTER: Wang ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11258424 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature