title: Pediatric emergencies admitted in the resuscitation room of a Swiss university hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pediatric resuscitation is an intense, stressful, and challenging process. The aim of this study was to review the life-threatening pediatric (LTP) emergencies admitted in a Swiss university hospital with regards to patients' demographics, reason for admission, diagnosis, treatment, significant events, critical incidents, and outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective observational cohort study of prospectively collected data was conducted, including all LTP emergencies admitted over a period of 2 years in the resuscitation room (RR). Variables, including indication for transfer, mode of prehospital transportation, diagnosis, and time spent in RR, were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 60,939 pediatric emergencies treated in our university hospital over 2 years, a total of 277 LTP emergencies (0.46%) were admitted in the RR. They included 160 boys and 117 girls, aged 6 days to 15.95 years (mean, 6.69 years; median, 5.06). A medical problem was identified in 55.9% (n = 155) of the children. Of the 122 children treated for a surgical problem, 35 (28.3%) went directly from the RR to the operating room. Hemodynamic instability was noted in 19.5% of all LTP emergencies, of which 1.1% benefited from O negative transfusion. Admission to the intensive care unit was necessary for 61.6% of the children transferred from another hospital. The average time spent in the RR was 46 minutes. The overall mortality rate was 7.2%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The LTP emergencies accounted for a small proportion of all pediatric emergencies. They were more medical than surgical cases and resuscitation measures because of hemodynamic instability were the most frequent treatment.
authors.affiliation: From the *Service of Pediatric Surgery, †Emergency Department, ‡Anesthesia Department, and §Service of Pediatrics, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Nicole Gandillon
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Vandermensbrugghe
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dolci
authors.forename: Viviane
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Amiet
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Racine
authors.forename: Pierre-Nicolas
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Carron
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D057768:Brief, Resolved, Unexplained Event / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012151:Resuscitation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013557:Switzerland