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Background Lately, one of the major clinical and public health issues has been represented by Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) during pregnancy and the risk of transmission of the infection from mother to child. Debate on perinatal management and postnatal care is still ongoing, principally questioning the option of the joint management of mother and child after birth and the safety of breastfeeding. According to the available reports, neonatal COVID-19 appears to have a horizontal transmission and seems to be paucisymptomatic or asymptomatic, compared to older age groups. The aim of this work is to describe a cluster of neonatal COVID-19 and discuss our experience, with reference to current evidence on postnatal care and perinatal management. Methods This is a retrospective observational case series of five mother-child dyads, who attended the Labor and Delivery Unit of a first-level hospital in Italy, in March 2020. Descriptive statistics for continuous variables consisted of number of observations, mean and the range of the minimum and maximum values. Results Five women and four neonates tested positive for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In one case, the mother-child dyad was separated and the neonate remained negative on two consecutive tests. Two positive neonates developed symptoms, with a predominant involvement of the gastrointestinal tract. Blood tests were unremarkable, except for a single patient who developed mild neutropenia. No complications occurred. Conclusions We agree that the decision on whether or not to separate a positive/suspected mother from her child should be made on an individual basis, taking into account the parent’s will, clinical condition, hospital logistics and the local epidemiological situation. In conformity with literature, in our study, affected neonates were asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic. Despite these reassuring findings, a few cases of severe presentation in the neonatal population have been reported. Therefore, we agree on encouraging clinicians to monitor the neonates with a suspected or confirmed infection.

Hypoalbuminemia is considered a predictor of adverse outcomes in critically ill children1 and in adults affected by COVID-192, 3 . This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Background Salt-wasting represents a relatively common cause of emergency admission in infants and may result in life-threatening complications. Neonatal kidneys show low glomerular filtration rate and immaturity of the distal nephron leading to reduced ability to concentrate urine. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted for infants hospitalized in a single Institution from 1st January 2006 to 31st December 2015. The selection criterion was represented by the referral to the Endocrinology Unit for hyponatremia (serum sodium

Background: Several charters of rights have been issued in Europe to solemnly proclaim the rights of children during their hospital stay. However, notwithstanding such general declarations, the actual implementation of hospitalized children’s rights is unclear. The purpose of this study was to understand to which extent such rights, as established by the two main existing charters of rights, are actually implemented and respected in Italian pediatric hospitals and the pediatric units of Italian general hospitals, as perceived by the nurses working in them. Methods: Cross-sectional study. A 12-item online questionnaire was set up and an invitation was sent by email to Italian pediatric nurses using professional mailing lists and social networks. Responders were asked to score to what extent each right is respected in their hospital using a numeric scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Results: 536 questionnaires were returned. The best implemented right is the right of children to have their mothers with them (mean score 4.47). The least respected one is the right of children to express their opinion about care (mean 3.01). Other rights considered were the right to play (4.29), the right to be informed (3.95), the right to the respect of privacy (3.75), the right to be hospitalized with peers (3.39), the right not to experience pain ever (3.41), and the right to school (3.07). According to the majority of nurses, the most important is the right to pain relief. Significant differences in the implementation of rights were found between areas of Italy and between pediatric hospitals and pediatric units of general hospitals. Conclusion: According to the perception of pediatric nurses, the implementation of the rights of hospitalized children in Italian pediatrics units is still limited.

Venipuncture is perhaps the scariest aspect of hospitalization for children as it causes pain and high levels of behavioral distress. Pain is a complex experience which is also influenced by social factors such as cultural attitudes, beliefs and traditions. Studies focusing on ethnic/cultural differences in pain perception and behavioral distress show controversial results, in particular with regards to children. The aim of this paper is to evaluate differences in pain perception and behavioral manifestations between Italian and Chinese children undergoing a venipuncture, through a cross-sectional study. Behavioral distress and self-reported pain were measured in Chinese and Italian outpatient children during a standardized blood-drawing procedure, using the Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress (OSBD) and pain scales. We observed 332 children: 93 Chinese and 239 Italian. Chinese children scored higher than Italians on pain scales − mean scores 5.3 (95%CI 4.78-5.81) vs. 3.2 (95%CI 2.86-3.53) − but lower mean OSBD scores − mean 4.1 (95%CI 3.04-5.15) vs. 8.1 (95%CI 7.06-9.14). Our data suggest that Chinese children experience higher levels of pain than their Italian peers, although they show more self-control in their behavioral reaction to pain when experiencing venipuncture.

Background Venipuncture pain in children results from a variety of co-factors which increase the intensity of the nociceptive stimulus. Among them, anticipatory anxiety plays an important role. Children with chronic diseases undergo invasive procedures and venipuncture more often than other children. Some healthcare professionals still believe that children who are repeatedly exposed to painful procedures, such as children with chronic diseases, gradually increase their pain tolerance and that, as a result, they have a higher pain threshold than children with no chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a difference exists in the perception of venipuncture pain between children with chronic diseases and children with no previous health problems nor experience of venipuncture. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out using the Wong and numeric pain scales and the Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress (OSBD) for the assessment of behavioral distress. A group of children with chronic diseases and a group of children with no previous health problems nor experience of venipuncture, aged 4 to 12 years, both boys and girls, were observed during a standardized venipuncture procedure. Results The study included 230 children in total: 82 of them suffered from chronic diseases and had already experienced venipuncture at least once, while the remaining 148 children had no previous experience of venipuncture. The children with chronic diseases reported more pain (median pain score of 8 on the Wong or numeric scales,) and showed more signs of behavioral distress (median score of 27 on the OSBD) than non-chronic children (median pain score of 2 on the Wong/numeric scales, p = 0.00001; median OSBD score 5, p = 0.00001). Conclusions Our study suggests that children with chronic diseases have a lower pain threshold than children of the same sex and age who experience venipuncture for the first time.

Importance Effective methods to reduce children’s preoperative anxiety (such as giving information beforehand, organizing a tour of the operating room [OR] before the intervention, and incorporating clown physicians) may be difficult to implement for some hospitals, as they are time-consuming and expensive and require hospital staff to be performed. Objective To test the effectiveness of Clickamico, an app that shows clown physicians giving a comical and informative tour of the OR, for reducing preoperative anxiety in children. Design, Setting, and Participants This unblinded randomized clinical trial included 40 children aged 6 to 11 years undergoing a planned surgical intervention at a third-level Italian pediatric hospital from December 2013 to September 2014 randomized into experimental (n = 20) and control (n = 20) groups. Interventions The experimental intervention was a 6-minute video showing 2 clown physicians visiting the OR and explaining to each other what is in the OR in a joking way. The video was shown on a tablet to children in the experimental group the afternoon preceding a planned surgical procedure. The control intervention was the standard informative intervention regarding the surgical procedure the next day. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was preoperative anxiety. Preoperative anxiety was measured before the experimental and control interventions and immediately before entering the OR using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (m-YPAS). Results The experimental and control groups were homogeneous with regard to age (mean [SD] age, 8.8 [2.5] vs 8.6 [2.2] years), sex (female, 11 [55.0%] vs 9 [45.0%]), parents’ age (mean [SD] age, 41.8 [6.2] vs 41.3 [5.0] years), and previous surgical procedures (already underwent surgical procedure, 9 [45.0%] vs 10 [50.0%]). The initial mean (SD) m-YPAS scores were 37.3 (21.7) and 37.1 (13.8) for the experimental and control groups, respectively; the mean (SD) m-YPAS scores when entering the OR were 33.0 (18.4) and 48.6 (15.9), respectively ( P = .009). The mean (SD) difference between the m-YPAS score at the first and second measurements of each participant was −2.8 (7.2) in the experimental group and 10.7 (10.8) in the control group. The 13.5-point difference between these averages was statistically significant ( P = .003). Conclusions and Relevance The app was effective in reducing preoperative anxiety in Italian children admitted to an Italian National Health System pediatric hospital and may act as a substitute for staff-provided interventions, allowing possible reductions of hospital costs. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:NCT01688115

Effective methods to reduce children preoperative anxiety (such as giving previous information, organising a tour to the operating room before the intervention and the presence of clown-doctors) are time-consuming and expensive as they require hospital staff to be performed. Goal To test the effectiveness of "Clickamico", a new IT method to reduce preoperative anxiety in children. Methods Randomised controlled trial. The experimental intervention was a 6-minute video showing two clown-doctors who visit the operating theatre (OR) and explain each other in a jokingly way what is in it. Subjects were 40 children aged 6 to 11 undergoing a planned surgical intervention and were randomised to 2 groups. In Group A (n = 20), the video was shown to subjects on a tablet the afternoon preceding a planned surgery. In Group B (n = 20) subjects were given usual care (non standardised oral information given by nurses on parents’ request). Anxiety was measured before treatment and before entering OR using the Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale-modified (m-YPAS) Results The groups were homogeneous with regards to age, gender, parents’age and% of children previously undergone surgery. Basal mean m-YPAS scores were not statistically different (Group A 37.3 vs Group B 37.1). Mean m-YPAS observed at entering OR were 33.01 in Group A and 48.6 in Group B (p = 0.009). Basal to pre-OR mean m-YPAS score difference was -2.82 in Group A and +10.7 in Group B (p = 0.003). Conclusion "Clickamico" is effective in reducing preoperative anxiety in children and may substitute staff-provided interventions, allowing possible reductions of Hospital costs.

Prolonging the duration of peripheral venous catheters (PVC) as long as possible in children is a nursing priority. However, available studies provide conflicting evidence on what kind of flush solution should be used to increase the life of PVCs in children. Goal To compare the effectiveness of Normal Saline (NS) vs Heparin solution (HS) in maintaining the patency of PVCs in hospitalised children. Methods Single blind randomised controlled trial. The study compares two solutions used to flush PVCs between an access and another: NS only (group A) vs a solution of Heparin 50 U/ml in NS (HS) (group B). Subjects are children 2 to 14 with a G22 or G24 PVC, undergoing iv therapy twice-in-day, without coagulation problems and taking no immunosoppresant or steroidal drugs. Recruited subjects are randomised in either group using a randomization list. The sample numerosity was set at 26 per group. The outcomes evaluated are: PVC duration on site in hours; onset of complication. Preliminary results. So far 18 children have been recruited (9 group A, 9 group B). The two groups do not differ statistically with regards to age, sex, location and number of access to PVC. Mean duration of CVPs is 31.4 h in group A and 120.2 h in group B (p = 0.004). Complications have arisen in 88.9% of subjects in group A and 44.4% in group A (p = 0.06). Discussion Preliminary data show a relevant difference in PVCs flushed with HS. The study will continue until the numerosity of 52 subjects is reached.