title: Comparison of pediatric and general emergency medicine practice patterns in infants with fever.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate and compare the management approaches of pediatric and general emergency medicine physicians in infants presenting to the emergency department (ED) with complaint of fever.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infants 90 days of age or younger with a chief complaint of fever were included for review. Vital signs, laboratory workup, disposition, and final diagnosis were collected. Compliance with guidelines was assessed and compared between EDs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compliance with admission guidelines was not significantly different in any of the 3 age groups evaluated between the pediatric and general ED (PED and GED). Compliance with guideline recommendations for laboratory workup was not significantly different between the 2 EDs, nor was overall compliance with guideline recommendations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No significant variations in the management of febrile infants or compliance with published guidelines between PED and GED physicians were observed. Young infants can be safely treated for fever in the PED or GED.
authors.affiliation: ProMedica Toledo Hospital, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Leelasri
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vanguru
authors.affiliation: ProMedica Toledo Hospital, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Roberta E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Redfern
authors.affiliation: ProMedica Toledo Hospital, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wanjiku
authors.affiliation: Children's of Alabama Hospital, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Rami
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sunallah
authors.affiliation: The University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mukundan
authors.affiliation: ProMedica Toledo Hospital, Toledo, OH, USA lvemuru@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vemuru
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: emergency department; fever; guidelines compliance; infant