Highlights from this issue

PEWS: settling the score ‘Early Warning’ or ‘Track and Trigger’ charts are now a ‘must have’ for acute paediatric care. They have even found their way onto postnatal wards and into neonatal transitional care, and there has been an assumption that local units can invent their own versions without any need for a rigorous assessment of effectiveness. Chapman et al bring some welcome clarity into this area in a paper that sets out to evaluate the relative merits of 18 different systems, yet tellingly managed only to evaluate 12 of these properly. Using a case-control method in over 300 patients, the best buys were found to be the Cardiff and Vale PEWS, Bedside PEWS and Modified PEWS III. Their own local system in Great Ormond Street Hospital emerged as mediocre, and based on their results they said they plan to move to a more effective one. The authors...
Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Atoms Source Type: research