News and events

Congratulations to the following authors:

Babl FE, Tavender E, Dalziel SR; Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT).
From knowledge generation to synthesis to translation.
Emerg Med Australas. 2021 Apr;33(2):192-194

Australian and New Zealand Prospective Sepsis Observational Study-1 

Multi-centre, prospective observational study to investigate the prevalence, management, and outcomes of children with sepsis.

Setting and target: 

>10 PREDICT sites in Australia and New Zealand.

Inclusion criteria:

Age <18 years, requiring hospital admission for admission for IV/IM/IO antibiotics, circulatory support (IV fluid bolus or inotrope).Children aged 6 months – 18 years, requiring hospital admission for sepsis and >1 fluid bolus.

Exclusion criteria:

Patients receiving inotrope / vasopressor for indications other than sepsis, post-operative cardiac surgical patients, post-operative solid organ transplant patients.

Ethics and consent:

Ethics approval for verbal consent for 90-day follow-up (text, email, or phone); enrol patient when meeting inclusion criteria. Consent by enrolling clinician or within 24 hours by research team.

Status:

APSOS 1 will begin recruitment in March 2021 (in conjunction with PROMPT Bolus), study duration 1 year.

Study duration:

1 year.

Pragmatic Paediatric Trial of Balanced Versus Normal Saline Fluid in Sepsis (PRoMPT BOLUS)

A pragmatic, international randomised controlled trial comparing 0.9% saline to balanced fluids for sepsis resuscitation and initial maintenance.

This study aims to:

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of balanced fluids for sepsis resuscitation and initial maintenance compared to 0.9% saline.

Setting and target: 

>10 PREDICT sites in Australia and New Zealand; 2200 patients; MRFF funded. 23 PECARN (US) sites; 4500 patients; NIH funded. 12 PERC (Can) sites; 2600 patients; CIHR funded.

Primary outcome:

Major Adverse Kidney Events (MAKE 30) at hospital discharge or within 30 days of enrolment (death, requirement for renal replacement therapy, persistent renal dysfunction).

Inclusion criteria:

Children aged 6 months – 18 years, requiring hospital admission for sepsis and >1 fluid bolus.

Exclusion criteria:

40ml/kg fluid, clinician judgement not safe (suspected brain herniation, known hyperkalaemia / hypercalcaemia / hepatic or renal failure, known metabolic or mitochondrial disease, known pregnancy, known fluid allergy.

Ethics and consent:

Ethics approval for delayed consent (waiver of consent to randomise). Consent by the research team once patient stabilised.

Status:

PROMPT Bolus will begin recruitment at RCH in March 2021, study duration 4.5 years. Enrolment in the US started in August 2020. Enrolment in Canada has not yet started.

Australian and New Zealand sites:

• Kidz First Hospital, Middlemore (NZ)
• Waikato Hospital (NZ)
• Starship Hospital (NZ)
• Royal Darwin Hospital (NT)
• Gold Coast University Hospital (QLD)
• Queensland Children’s Hospital (QLD)
• Westmead Children’s Hospital (NSW)
• Sydney Children’s Hospital (NSW)
• Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth (WA)
• Monash Health
• Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide (SA)
• The Royal Children’s Hospital (VIC)
• Townsville Hospital (QLD)

Study of Neck Injury Imaging in Children (SONIC): Improving the Diagnosis of Spinal Cord, Bone and Ligament Injuries

Many children sustain head and neck trauma during their lifetime. Significant neck injuries – to spinal cord, neck bones and connecting ligaments – can be identified by performing neck imaging with x-rays, or, if needed, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Yet, it is unclear which children should receive neck imaging in the emergency department (ED), especially in the context of increasing concerns about radiation-induced cancer in children and the discomfort and delays of immobilisation prior to imaging.

This study aims to:

(i) investigate the accuracy of existing neck injury clinical decision rules (CDRs) to detect neck injuries in children (external validation) of adult focussed CDRs and the newly developed paediatric PECARN CDR
(ii) derive and validate a new CDR for neck imaging in children (the SONIC CDR),
(iii) assess the cost implications of different CDRs in children.
(iv) investigate the epidemiology of cervical spine injuries in ANZ

Study design: 

Multicentre, prospective observational study.

Timeframe:

2020 – 2025

Sites:

• Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne (VIC)
• Monash Children’s Hospital, Melbourne (VIC)
• Queensland Children’s Hospital (QLD)
• Logan Hospital (QLD)
• Sunshine Coast University Hospital (QLD)
• Gold Coast University Hospital (QLD)
• Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth (WA)
• Children’s Hospital at Westmead (NSW)
• Sydney Children’s Hospital (NSW)
• Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide (SA)
• Darwin Hospital (NT)
• Kids First, Auckland (NZ)
• Starship Children’s Hospital, Auckland (NZ)

Sample:

PREDICT ~30,000 (depending on prevalence of injuries), children aged <16 yrs with possible neck injury.

News:

We are currently finalising the ethics approval which includes waiver of consent for enrolment and data collection and verbal consent required only for telephone/text/email follow up. Development of the CRFs and Redcap data base is underway in view of a rolling study commencement to begin in May.

Following the nomination process, the following appointments on the PREDICT executive have been made:

Research Higher Degree scholar: Brooke Charters (2021 & 2022)
Research Assistant: Libby Haskell (2021) & Michael McCarron (2022)

Congratulations to the successful nominees. We look forward to your involvement on the PREDICT executive.

 

 

Our “Getting to Know You” segment ensures PREDICT members are aware of new members, their interests and areas of expertise and where they are located.

This month we introduce Alison Partyka from Royal North Shore Hospital.

“I am currently working as Acting Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Royal North Shore Emergency Department. The Royal North Shore Emergency Department is a mixed ED seeing over 25,000 paediatric presentations per annum.  I am interested in paediatric resuscitation specifically ventilation, simulation use in nursing education and paediatric family centered care.”

Welcome to PREDICT Alison!