title: Outpatient management of young febrile infants with urinary tract infections.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Controversy exists regarding the disposition of young febrile infants who present to emergency departments (EDs) with urinary tract infections (UTIs). In a large multicenter cohort of such patients, we aimed to determine the variation in patient disposition and clinical factors independently associated with outpatient management.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary analysis of a retrospective study of infants 29 to 60 days with fever (≥38.0°C), urinalysis finding, and culture-proven UTIs presenting to 20 North American EDs belonging to the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics. We determined independent factors associated with outpatient management.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1764 infants with UTIs, 132 (7.5%) were discharged home from the ED. The proportion of infants managed as outpatients varied among sites (0%-20.0%). Of the 132 infants, 29 (22.0%) were subsequently hospitalized after culture results were known, including 5 patients with bacteremia. None of the 107 patients initially discharged from the ED for whom outcomes were known had adverse events (0%; 95% CI, 0%-2.7%). On multivariable regression and generalized estimated equations analyses, only clinical site, presence of upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, absence of vomiting, and having fewer than 10 white blood cells per microliter on cerebrospinal fluid examination were independently associated with discharge from the ED. Clinical site was the factor most highly associated with outpatient management (odds ratio, 8.8; 95% confidence interval, 5.2-15.0).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is substantial practice variation regarding the disposition of febrile infants 29 to 60 days of age with UTIs. Institutional practice is the strongest predictor of outpatient management. Further evidence is needed to guide the management of non-toxic-appearing young febrile infants with UTIs.
authors.affiliation: From the *Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; †Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY; ‡Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA; §Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; ∥Paediatric Emergency Medicine and Gastroenterology, Alberta Children's Hospital, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; ¶Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Children's National Medical Center, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC; #Department of Biostatistics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schnadower
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuppermann
authors.forename: Charles G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Macias
authors.forename: Stephen B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.forename: Dewesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.forename: Jingnan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Dayan
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000209:etiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009656:North America; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016482:Urinalysis; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*