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Millions of children sustain a concussion annually. Concussion disrupts cellular signaling and neural pathways within the brain but the resulting metabolic disruptions are not well characterized. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can examine key brain metabolites (e.g., N‐acetyl Aspartate (tNAA), glutamate (Glx), creatine (tCr), choline (tCho), and myo‐Inositol (mI)) to better understand these disruptions. In this study, we used MRS to examine differences in brain metabolites between children and adolescents with concussion versus orthopedic injury. Children and adolescents with concussion (n = 361) or orthopedic injury (OI) (n = 184) aged 8 to 17 years were recruited from five emergency departments across Canada. MRS data were collected from the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L‐DLPFC) using point resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) at 3 T at a mean of 12 days post‐injury (median 10 days post‐injury, range 2–33 days). Univariate analyses for each metabolite found no statistically significant metabolite differences between groups. Within each analysis, several covariates were statistically significant. Follow‐up analyses designed to account for possible confounding factors including age, site, scanner, vendor, time since injury, and tissue type (and interactions as appropriate) did not find any metabolite group differences. In the largest sample of pediatric concussion studied with MRS to date, we found no metabolite differences between concussion and OI groups in the L‐DLPFC. We suggest that at 2 weeks post‐injury in a general pediatric concussion population, brain metabolites in the L‐DLPFC are not specifically affected by brain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the largest sample studied to date, white matter microstructural trajectories and their relation to persistent symptoms were examined after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This prospective, longitudinal cohort study recruited children aged 8–16.99 years with mTBI or mild orthopedic injury (OI) from five pediatric emergency departments. Children's pre‐injury and 1‐month post‐injury symptom ratings were used to classify mTBI with or without persistent symptoms. Children completed diffusion‐weighted imaging at post‐acute (2–33 days post‐injury) and chronic (3 or 6 months via random assignment) post‐injury assessments. Mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were derived for 18 white matter tracts in 560 children (362 mTBI/198 OI), 407 with longitudinal data. Superior longitudinal fasciculus FA was higher in mTBI without persistent symptoms relative to OI, d (95% confidence interval) = 0.31 to 0.37 (0.02, 0.68), across time. In younger children, MD of the anterior thalamic radiations was higher in mTBI with persistent symptoms relative to both mTBI without persistent symptoms, 1.43 (0.59, 2.27), and OI, 1.94 (1.07, 2.81). MD of the arcuate fasciculus, −0.58 (−1.04, −0.11), and superior longitudinal fasciculus, −0.49 (−0.90, −0.09) was lower in mTBI without persistent symptoms relative to OI at 6 months post‐injury. White matter microstructural changes suggesting neuroinflammation and axonal swelling occurred chronically and continued 6 months post injury in children with mTBI, especially in younger children with persistent symptoms, relative to OI. White matter microstructure appears more organized in children without persistent symptoms, consistent with their better clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sophisticated network‐based approaches such as structural connectomics may help to detect a biomarker of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in children. This study compared the structural connectome of children with mTBI or mild orthopedic injury (OI) to that of typically developing (TD) children. Children aged 8–16.99 years with mTBI (n = 83) or OI (n = 37) were recruited from the emergency department and completed 3T diffusion MRI 2–20 days postinjury. TD children (n = 39) were recruited from the community and completed diffusion MRI. Graph theory metrics were calculated for the binarized average fractional anisotropy among 90 regions. Multivariable linear regression and linear mixed effects models were used to compare groups, with covariates age, hemisphere, and sex, correcting for multiple comparisons. The two injury groups did not differ on graph theory metrics, but both differed from TD children in global metrics (local network efficiency: TD > OI, mTBI, d = 0.49; clustering coefficient: TD < OI, mTBI, d = 0.49) and regional metrics for the fusiform gyrus (lower degree centrality and nodal efficiency: TD > OI, mTBI, d = 0.80 to 0.96; characteristic path length: TD < OI, mTBI, d = −0.75 to −0.90) and in the superior and middle orbital frontal gyrus, paracentral lobule, insula, and thalamus (clustering coefficient: TD > OI, mTBI, d = 0.66 to 0.68). Both mTBI and OI demonstrated reduced global and regional network efficiency and segregation as compared to TD children. Findings suggest a general effect of childhood injury that could reflect pre‐ and postinjury factors that can alter brain structure. An OI group provides a more conservative comparison group than TD children for structural neuroimaging research in pediatric mTBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess the reliability of HEARTSMAP as a standardized tool for evaluating the quality of psychosocial assessment documentation of pediatric mental health (MH) presentations to the emergency department (ED). In addition, we report on current documentation practices. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross‐sectional study of pediatric (up to age 17) MH‐related visits to four EDs between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014. The primary outcome was the inter‐rater agreement when evaluating the completeness of pediatric emergency psychosocial assessments using the HEARTSMAP tool. The secondary outcome was to describe the adequacy of documentation of emergency pediatric MH assessments, using HEARTSMAP as a guide for a complete assessment. Results: A total of 400 medical records (100 from each site) were reviewed. We observed near‐perfect inter‐rater agreement (κ = 0.99–1.00) regarding the presence of documentation and good‐to‐perfect agreement (κ = 0.71–1.00) regarding whether sufficient information was documented to score a severity level for every component of an emergency psychosocial assessment. Inter‐rater agreement regarding whether referrals or resources were documented for identified needs was observed to be good to very good (κ = 0.62–0.98). Current psychosocial documentation practices were found to be inconsistent with significant variability in the presence of documentation pertaining to HEARTSMAP sections between medical centers and initial clinician assessor and whether specialized MH services were involved prior to discharge. Conclusions: The HEARTSMAP tool can be reliably used to assess pediatric psychosocial assessment documentation across a diverse range of EDs. Current documentation practices are variable and often inadequate, and the HEARTSMAP tool can aid in quality improvement initiatives to standardize and optimize care for the growing burden of pediatric mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This systematic review describes the role and impact of physician assistants (PAs) in the ED. It includes reports of surveys, retrospective and prospective studies as well as guidelines and reviews. Seven hundred and twelve studies were identified of which only 66 were included, and many of these studies were limited by methodological quality. Generally the use of PAs in the ED is modest with 13-18% of US EDs having PAs although academic medical centres report PA use in 65-68% of EDs. The evidence indicates that PAs are reliable in assessing certain medical complaints and performing procedures, and are well accepted by ED staff and patients alike. There is limited evidence as to whether PAs improve ED flow or are cost-effective. Future studies on work processes, cost-effectiveness, unfamiliar patients' willingness to be treated by non-physician providers, and ED physicians' acceptability of PAs are needed to inform and guide the integration of PAs into EDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]