Search

Adolescent cannabis use is associated with adverse health outcomes. The impact of cannabis legalization on adolescent cannabis-related hospitalizations remains unknown. We sought to assess whether state cannabis legalization is associated with adolescent cannabis-related hospitalizations.We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adolescent (11-17 years) hospitalizations at children's hospitals between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2019 using the Inpatient Essentials database. We investigated differences in adolescent cannabis-related diagnosis during a hospitalization by state cannabis legalization status, including states with no legal use to medical cannabis laws (MCLs) and states with MCLs to nonmedical (21 years old) cannabis laws (NMCLs).Of 1,898,432 adolescent hospitalizations in 18 states and Washington, DC, there were 37,562 (2%) hospitalizations with a cannabis-related diagnosis, with 8,457 (23%) in states with no legal use, 20,444 (54%) in MCL states, and 8,661 (23%) in NMCL states. There was an increase in adjusted odds of a cannabis-related hospitalization in MCL (odds ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.06) and NMCL states (odds ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.03) between 2008 and 2019. Characteristics associated with the greatest increase in adjusted odds of a cannabis-related hospitalization postpolicy change included adolescents without an underlying mental health or other substance use disorder in MCL and NMCL states (p.001) and younger age in NMCL states (13 vs. 16 and 17 years old, p = .02 and p = .02).Cannabis-related adolescent hospitalizations at children's hospitals are increasing, with a disproportionate increase postlegalization in states with NMCLs. Interventions are warranted to increase cannabis use identification and treatment among at-risk adolescents in the hospital-based setting.

OBJECTIVES To describe sexual health behaviors, contraceptive use, and pregnancy risk among hospitalized female adolescents. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey of hospitalized female patients aged 14 to 21 years at 2 academic medical centers to assess sexual health behaviors, contraceptive use, contraceptive counseling receipt, and factors associated with pregnancy complications (eg, diabetes, teratogenic exposure). We calculated the validated Pregnancy Risk Index (PRI) (number per 100 who will become pregnant in the next year). RESULTS Among 177 participants (mean age 16 years, SD 1.5), 75 (43%) were sexually active. At last vaginal sex, 65% reported condom use; 49%, reversible contraception; and 12%, long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Past-year contraceptive counseling was reported by 73% of sexually active female participants and was associated with increased use of reversible (P = .001) and dual contraception (P = .03) but not LARC (P = .24). The mean PRI among all participants was 4.75. Nearly three-quarters (73%) had a medical comorbidity or teratogenic exposure. Those with teratogenic medication use had the lowest PRI of 0.32 (P < .05), with 88% using reversible contraception and 31% using LARC. CONCLUSIONS Hospitalized female adolescents had a PRI similar to that of adolescents in the general population. However, nearly three-quarters had a medical comorbidity and/or teratogenic exposure, which increased risk for pregnancy complications. Contraceptive counseling was associated with increased reversible and dual contraception use but not LARC use. Efforts to improve comprehensive contraceptive counseling, highlighting LARC, are critically needed in this population.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted hospitals, potentially affecting quality and safety. Our objective was to compare pediatric hospitalization safety events during the pandemic versus previous years.METHODS:In this retrospective cohort study of hospitalizations in the Pediatric Health Information System, we compared Pediatric Quality Indicator (PDI) rates from March 15 to May 31, 2017–2019 (pre-COVID-19), with those from March 15 to May 31, 2020 (during COVID-19). Generalized linear mixed-effects models with adjustment for patient characteristics (eg, diagnosis, clinical severity) were used.RESULTS:There were 399 113 discharges pre-COVID-19 and 88 140 during COVID-19. Unadjusted PDI rates were higher during versus pre-COVID-19 for overall PDIs (6.39 vs 5.05; P < .001). In adjusted analyses, odds of postoperative sepsis were higher during COVID-19 versus pre-COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio 1.28 [95% confidence interval 1.04–1.56]). The remainder of the PDIs did not have increased adjusted odds during compared with pre-COVID-19.CONCLUSIONS:Postoperative sepsis rates increased among children hospitalized during COVID-19. Efforts are needed to improve safety of postoperative care for hospitalized children.

OBJECTIVES: Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with adverse health outcomes in children, yet tobacco cessation efforts for caregivers of hospitalized children are lacking. We sought to explore pediatric hospitalists’ attitudes and barriers to providing tobacco cessation for caregivers of hospitalized children. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of pediatric hospitalists and fellows at 7 hospitals from November 1, 2018, to November 30, 2019. A 70-question anonymous survey was used to assess participants’ perceptions of current practices, attitudes, and barriers to providing tobacco cessation support for caregivers of hospitalized children. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the data. RESULTS: Of 207 eligible participants, 100 responded (48%). A majority (79%) agreed that offering tobacco cessation counseling for caregivers is an important part of their role in caring for hospitalized children, but 79% never received tobacco cessation training. Only half of the participants were comfortable providing brief advice and few were comfortable prescribing nicotine replacement therapy. Identified barriers included lack of time (74%), perceived lack of interest from patients’ caregivers (71%), and other medical conditions of the patient taking priority (70%). The majority of participants were interested in further training in tobacco cessation support. CONCLUSIONS: In this survey of 100 pediatric hospitalists, we found overall agreement that tobacco cessation support for caregivers of hospitalized children is important. However, most participants did not feel comfortable with provision of evidence-based counseling or pharmacotherapy because of identified barriers. Future work should target actionable barriers to improve provision of tobacco cessation support in this clinical setting.

Improved access to sexual and reproductive care (SRC) improves adverse outcomes among adolescents, yet barriers continue to exist. Although the continued declining rate of adolescent pregnancy over the past decades is encouraging, adolescents in the United States still experience disproportionately high rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) compared with adolescents in other industrialized countries.1–3 Nearly 90% of adolescent pregnancies are unplanned, leading to increased risk for preventable outcomes, including preterm delivery, low birth weight, and neonatal mortality.4,5 In addition, unintended teen-aged pregnancy is associated with reduced education attainment and career earning potential.6 Rates of STIs among adolescents remain high, with nearly 1 in 4 girls testing positive for an STI annually.7 In addition, only half of adolescents are fully vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), leaving those who are unvaccinated at risk for developing HPV-associated cancers.8 Despite multiple national organizations advocating for provision of comprehensive care for adolescents at every clinical encounter, adolescent reproductive and sexual health needs often go unmet.9,10 In light of recent events, including the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the current administration’s health care reform policies, access to evidence-based SRC is even further decreased, particularly among vulnerable populations, including adolescents; thus, efforts to address these needs are now more critical than ever.11,12 Many adolescents, particularly those at highest risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs, have limited access to SRC because of numerous barriers, including poor access and confidentiality concerns.13–15 Open parent-teenager communication regarding sexual and reproductive health promotes reduced risk behaviors, but most teenagers do not receive these discussions with their parents, guardians, or health care providers.16 Among …

OBJECTIVE Because a goal of the Affordable Care Act was to increase preventive care and reduce high-cost care, the objective of this study was to evaluate current health care use and reliance on acute care settings among Medicaid-enrolled children. METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of the 2015 Truven Marketscan Medicaid claims database among children 0 to 21 years old with at least 11 months of continuous enrollment. We calculated adjusted probabilities of health care use (any health care use and ≥1 health maintenance visit) and high acute care reliance (ratio of emergency department or urgent care visits to all health care visits >0.33) by age and compared use between adolescents and younger children using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS Of the 5,182,540 Medicaid-enrolled children, 18.9% had no health care visits and 47.3% had 1 or more health maintenance visit in 2015. Both health care use and health maintenance visits decreased with increasing age (P < 0.001). Compared with younger children (0-10 years old), adolescents were more likely to have no interaction with the health care system [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 2.20; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.19-2.21] and less likely to have health maintenance visits (aOR, 0.40; 0.39-0.40). High acute care reliance was associated with increasing age, with adolescents having greater odds of high acute care reliance (aOR, 1.08; 1.08-1.09). CONCLUSIONS Medicaid-enrolled adolescents have low rates of health care use and have high reliance on acute care settings. Further investigation into adolescent-specific barriers to health maintenance care and drivers for acute care is warranted.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Many hospitalized adolescents are at increased risk for pregnancy complications due to an underlying medical condition, however sexual risk assessment is not consistently performed in this setting. While adolescents and their parents are supportive of sexual health discussion in the inpatient setting, a thorough understanding of factors that influence provision of this care among pediatric hospital physicians is lacking. This formative information is needed to facilitate efforts to improve and standardize clinical care provision. Our objective is to assess the frequency and factors that influence the provision of adolescent sexual and reproductive care by pediatric hospitalists. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional computerized survey of hospitalists at 5 pediatric hospitals who cared for ≥1 adolescent (14–21 years old) in the past year. Sexual and reproductive care practices were assessed by using a 76-item novel survey informed by the theory of planned behavior. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the data. RESULTS: Sixty-eight pediatric hospitalists participated (49% response rate): 78% were women and 65% were aged 46 adolescents annually, including many who are at an increased risk for pregnancy complications due to teratogenic medication use or a comorbid condition. A majority felt that sexual and reproductive services are appropriate, although many endorsed barriers, including concern about follow-up after emergency contraception (63%) and time constraints (53%). Most reported insufficient knowledge regarding contraception (59%), desired contraception education (57%), and were likely to increase contraceptive provision if provided education (63%). Hospitalists rarely provided condoms or referral for an intrauterine device. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric hospitalists frequently care for adolescents who are at risk for pregnancy complications and generally agree that reproductive care is appropriate in the inpatient setting. With these findings, we highlight the critical need for effective comprehensive reproductive health service interventions that are tailored to address the numerous actionable barriers identified in this study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adolescent substance use is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. A hospitalization represents an opportunity to identify and address substance use. We sought to describe self-reported and documented substance use among hospitalized adolescents. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of adolescents aged 14 to 18 years old admitted to two pediatric hospitals between August 2019 and March 2020. Using previously validated questions, we assessed the proportion of adolescents reporting ever, monthly, and weekly use of alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and other illicit drugs and nonmedical use of prescription medications. We reviewed medical records for substance use documentation. RESULTS: Among 306 respondents, 57% were older (16–18 years old), 53% were female, and 55% were of non-Hispanic white race and ethnicity. The most frequently reported substances ever used were alcohol (39%), marijuana (33%), and electronic cigarettes (31%); 104 (34%) respondents reported ever use of >1 substance. Compared with younger adolescents, those aged 16 to 18 years were more likely to report ever use of alcohol (29% vs 46%; P = .002), marijuana (22% vs 41%; P < .001), and ≥2 drugs (26% vs 40%; P = .009). A positive substance use history was rarely documented (11% of records reviewed), and concordance between documented and self-reported substance use was also rare. CONCLUSIONS: In this study of hospitalized adolescents, the most commonly reported substances used were alcohol, marijuana, and electronic cigarettes. Positive substance use documentation was rare and often discordant with self-reported substance use. Efforts to improve systematic screening for substance use and interventions for prevention and cessation in hospitalized adolescents are critically needed.

Objectives: To describe current trends in filled opioid prescriptions for Medicaid-enrolled children, adolescents and young adults (AYAs) from 2012 to 2016, and to identify patient characteristics and clinical settings associated with a higher probability of filled opioid prescriptions. Design: Retrospective cohort study of children and young adults enrolled in Medicaid from 2012 to 2016. Setting: 10-12 states participating in the Medicaid Marketscan claims database. Participants: Medicaid-enrolled children and young adults (0-21 years old). Exposure: Healthcare encounter(s) that could result in a new opioid prescription. Main Outcome Measure: “Opioid visits,” defined as healthcare encounters associated with a new opioid prescription filled within 7 days. Each opioid visit was assigned to the clinical provider most likely to have prescribed an opioid. Results: There were 113,068,027 visits among 4,427,838 Medicaid-enrollees and 1 percent (n = 1,130,006) of these were considered an opioid visit. Adjusted probabilities decreased from 1.2 percent to 0.8 percent from 2012 to 2016. The most frequently prescribed opioids were hydrocodone (48 percent; n = 653,011), codeine (23 percent; n = 305,644), and oxycodone (14 percent; n = 189,700); most of these were in combination with acetaminophen. The highest adjusted percentages by clinical setting were seen in dental surgery (29 percent), outpatient surgery (21 percent), and inpatient (upon discharge, 10 percent). Conclusions: Opioid prescriptions filled for Medicaid-enrolled children, adolescents, and young adults are relatively rare and adjusted probabilities decreased from 2012 to 2016. Among opioids filled, combination opioids and those with pediatric safety warnings remain commonly prescribed. Further research is critical to better understand drivers of prescribing practices and clinical indications for appropriate opioid use to inform improvements in pain management guidelines in this population.

OBJECTIVES: To assess trends in the incidence of nicotine use disorder (NUD) and describe associated factors among adolescents in the pediatric emergency department (ED) and inpatient settings. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all adolescents (11–18 years) with a hospital encounter (inpatient, observation, or ED) in the Pediatric Health Information System between January 1, 2012, and September 30, 2019. After excluding adolescents with a previous International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, NUD diagnosis in the past 2 years, adolescents with new NUD diagnosis (ie, NUD incidence) were identified. A multivariable generalized liner mixed model was used to assess adjusted NUD incidence and investigate the relationship of NUD with patient characteristics and any interactions between characteristics and time. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation between NUD incidence and e-cigarette use reported among youth. RESULTS: Of 3 963 754 adolescents, 15 376 (0.4%) had a new diagnosis of NUD. Between 2012 and 2019, NUD incidence increased from 0.3% to 0.4% (P < .001). Findings from the time interaction effect analysis revealed increasing NUD incidence among certain subpopulations, including boys, those with a commercial or other insurance type, adolescents seen in the ED, those from the lowest and highest median household income quartile, and those in the South and West US Census regions. The correlation between NUD incidence and e-cigarette use among high school students was ρ = 0.884 (P = .006). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of NUD among adolescents is increasing. Efforts to increase the screening and treatment of NUD among adolescents in the hospital, particularly among the at-risk populations identified, are needed.

To assess justice system involvement among adolescents in the pediatric emergency department and identify associations with risk and protective factors.We conducted a cross-sectional, computerized survey of adolescents to assess for personal, justice system involvement, and nonhousehold justice system involvement (ie, important people outside of household). We assessed sexual behaviors, violent behaviors, substance use, school suspension/expulsion, parental supportiveness, and participant mood (score70 indicates psychological distress). We compared differences between groups using the χWe enrolled 191 adolescents (mean age 16.1 years, 61% female). Most (68%) reported justice system involvement: personal (13%), household (42%), and nonhousehold (40%). Nearly one-half (47%) were sexually active and 50% reported school suspension/expulsion. The mean score for mood was 70.1 (SD 18); adolescents with justice system involvement had had lower mood scores (68 vs 74, P = .03) compared with those without justice system involvement. In a multivariable model, school expulsion/suspension was significantly associated with reporting any justice system involvement (OR 10.4; 95% CI 4.8-22.4).We identified the pediatric emergency department as a novel location to reach adolescents at risk for poor health outcomes associated with justice system involvement. Future work should assess which health promotion interventions and supports are desired among these adolescents and families.

OBJECTIVES Although recent health care reform efforts have focused on minimizing high cost health care utilization, the relationship between acute care use and health care expenditures among certain vulnerable populations such as Medicaid-insured children remains poorly understood. We sought to evaluate the association between acute care utilization and health care expenditures and to identify characteristics associated with high spending. METHODS We performed a retrospective cohort study of Medicaid-enrolled children 1-21 years old from 1/1/2016 to 12/31/2016. Children were categorized by acute care use (including emergency department and urgent care visits) as 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more visits. Our main outcomes were annualized spending, total per-member-per-year spending, and acute care-related per-member-per-year spending. RESULTS There were 5.1 million Medicaid-enrolled children that comprised the study cohort, accounting for US $32.6 billion in total spending. Children with 4 or more acute care visits were more likely to be younger than 2 years or older than 14 years, female, and have a chronic condition. Children with 4 or more acute care visits consisted of only 4% of the cohort but accounted for 15% (US $4.7 billion) of the total spending. Increasing acute care visits were associated with increasing total annualized spending in adjusted analyses (P < 0.001). This association was disproportionately observed in older age groups and children without chronic medical conditions. CONCLUSIONS Medicaid spending for children increases with increasing acute care use; this trend was disproportionately observed in older age groups and children without chronic medical conditions. Improved understanding of factors contributing to frequent acute care utilization and disproportionate spending is needed to potentially reduce unnecessary health care costs in these pediatric populations.

* Abbreviations: COVID-19 — : coronavirus disease SNAP — : Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Nationwide closures of elementary and secondary schools due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have severed nearly 60 million students from critical educational and health resources. As the impact of COVID-19 unfolds, pandemic-related trauma and economic instability will disproportionately impact children in poverty, who most heavily rely on school-based services for nutritional, physical, and mental health needs. Yet amid months of public health and political discourse and the passage of 4 federal relief bills, including the historically unmatched $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, measures to mitigate risk for educational and health disparities among children have been woefully lacking. Beyond provision of clinical and infection control guidance, the pediatric community must advocate for stronger action to ensure the educational, nutritional, physical, and mental health needs of children are met during periods of school closures and addressed during plans for reopening (Table 1). View this table: TABLE 1 Pediatric advocacy suggestions, tools, and resources. Action is needed to offset the risk for educational losses among all children as well as exacerbated educational disparities among children in poverty. Unforeseen extended school closures can lead to lower test scores, lower educational attainment, and decreased earning potential.1 During closures, students need reliable access to technology, a stable learning environment, and parents with the necessary time and skills to support for remote learning. Although remote learning presents a challenge for all families, those in poverty are at greater … Address correspondence to Abbey R. Masonbrink, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, 2401 Gilham Rd, Kansas City, MO 64108. E-mail: armasonbrink{at}cmh.edu

OBJECTIVES:Prescription of opioids to treat pediatric migraine is explicitly discouraged by treatment guidelines but persists in some clinical settings. We sought to describe rates of opioid administration in pediatric migraine hospitalizations.METHODS:Using data from the Pediatric Health Information System, we performed a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence and predictors of opioid administration for children aged 7 to 21 years who were hospitalized for migraine between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2018.RESULTS:There were 6632 pediatric migraine hospitalizations at 50 hospitals during the study period, of which 448 (7%) had an opioid administered during the hospitalization. There were higher adjusted odds of opioid administration in hospitalizations for non-Hispanic black (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.68; P < .001) and Hispanic (aOR, 1.54; P = .005) (reference white) race and ethnicity, among older age groups (18–21 years: aOR, 2.74; P < .001; reference, 7–10 years), and among patients with higher illness severity (aOR, 2.58; P < .001). Hospitalizations during which an opioid was administered had a longer length of stay (adjusted rate ratio, 1.48; P < .001) and higher 30-day readmission rate (aOR, 1.96; P < .001). By pediatric hospital, opioid administration ranged from 0% to 23.5% of migraine hospitalizations. Hospitals with higher opioid administration rates demonstrated higher adjusted readmission rates (P < .001) and higher adjusted rates of return emergency department visits (P = .026).CONCLUSIONS:Opioids continue to be used during pediatric migraine hospitalizations and are associated with longer lengths of stay and readmissions. These findings reveal important opportunities to improve adherence to migraine treatment guidelines and minimize unnecessary opioid exposure, with the potential to improve hospital discharge outcomes.

Purpose Adolescents are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and evidence supports expanding sexual health services to the hospital setting. Because STI testing practices in the hospital setting are poorly understood, we sought to describe current STI testing practices among adolescents seen in children's hospitals. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of adolescents (14–18 years old) from 45 children's hospitals in 2015–2016, excluding visits with a billing code for sexual abuse/assault. We calculated rates of STI testing and investigated differences in STI testing by patient and hospital characteristics using generalized linear mixed modeling. Results Of the 541,714 adolescent encounters, 59,158 (10.9%) underwent STI testing. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, those with an STI test were more likely to be female (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58–1.64), of non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity (aOR 1.20; 95% CI 1.17–1.23), or from the lowest median household income quartile (aOR 1.21; 95% CI 1.17–1.24). There was substantial inter-hospital variation in adjusted rates of STI testing (3%–24%), but strong correlation was observed between STI testing rates in the ED and inpatient settings within individual hospitals (adjusted R2 .99). Conclusions Only one in ten adolescents seen in children's hospitals underwent STI testing with wide variation in testing patterns across hospitals. There are critical opportunities to increase adolescent STI testing in this setting. Our findings highlight potential disparities in STI testing rates and patterns that warrant further exploration from the patient, provider, and health system perspective.

OBJECTIVES:To compare rates of previous inpatient visits among children hospitalized with child physical abuse (CPA) with controls as well as between individual abuse types.METHODS:In this study, we used the Pediatric Health Information System administrative database of 44 children’s hospitals. Children RESULTS:There were 5425 children hospitalized for CPA. Of abuse and accident cases, 13.1% and 13.2% had a previous inpatient visit, respectively. At previous visits, abused children had higher rates of fractures (rate ratio [RR] = 3.0 times; P = .018), head injuries (RR = 3.5 times; P = .005), symptoms concerning for occult abusive head trauma (AHT) (eg, isolated vomiting, seizures, brief resolved unexplained events) (RR = 1.4 times; P = .054), and perinatal conditions (eg, prematurity) (RR = 1.3 times; P = .014) compared with controls. Head injuries and symptoms concerning for occult AHT also more frequently preceded cases of AHT compared with other types of abuse (both P < .001).CONCLUSIONS:Infants hospitalized with perinatal-related conditions, symptoms concerning for occult AHT, and injuries are inpatient populations who may benefit from abuse prevention efforts and/or risk assessments. Head injuries and symptoms concerning for occult AHT (eg, isolated vomiting, seizures, and brief resolved unexplained events) may represent missed opportunities to diagnose AHT in the inpatient setting; however, this requires further study.

Background Malaria during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for low birth weight (

Objective To determine rates of reportable bacterial infections among infants in New York City and identify populations at risk and preventable causes of morbidity. Study design This retrospective cohort study matched live births in New York City from 2001-2009 to reported cases of bacterial infections among infants less than 1 year of age. Characteristics recorded on birth certificates were compared between infants with bacterial enteric infection, bacterial nonenteric infection, and no reportable bacterial infection. Multinomial logistic regression and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify risk factors for infection. Results Bacterial infection was reported in 4.6 cases per 1000 live births. Of 4524 infants with a reportable infection, the majority (2880, 63%) had an enteric infection. Asian/Pacific Islanders in Brooklyn were the borough-level race/ethnic group with the highest enteric infection rate (8.5 per 1000 live births). Citywide, infants with enteric infections were disproportionately male, from higher poverty neighborhoods, born to foreign-born mothers, and enrolled in Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children or Medicaid. In contrast, infants with nonenteric infections were more likely to have low birthweight and mothers characterized by US birth and black race or white Hispanic race/ethnicity. Conclusions Distinct patterns of risk factors for enteric and nonenteric bacterial infections among infants were identified. The results suggest that infants born to Asian/Pacific Islander mothers residing in Brooklyn should be a focus of enteric disease prevention. More research is necessary to better understand what behaviors increase the risk of enteric disease in this population.

Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate topical povidone-iodine as a bridge to delayed fascial closure of giant omphaloceles with emphasis on its effect on thyroid function. Methods Newborns from a single institution with giant omphaloceles treated with topical povidone-iodine for a 10-year period were reviewed. Recorded data included sex, associated anomalies, length of stay, frequency of povidone-iodine application, thyroid function tests, frequency of laboratory draws, and thyroid supplementation administration. Results Six neonates with giant omphaloceles were treated with povidone-iodine. Thyroid function testing occurred weekly as inpatients and monthly as outpatients, with abnormal values normalized by the subsequent laboratory draw. One patient demonstrated persistent hypothyroidism and subsequently died secondary to cardiac complications, but this infant's newborn thyroid screening suggested congenital hypothyroidism. Five patients remained euthyroid and ultimately achieved fascial closure without the need for a prosthetic implant. None of these patients had abnormal outpatient thyroid tests nor did they require thyroid hormone supplementation. Conclusion Topical povidone-iodine promotes escharification and epithelialization of the omphalocele sac. Because transient hypothyroidism may occur, thyroid function studies may guide inpatient therapy. After sac desiccation, systemic effects of iodine are minimal and thyroid supplementation is not necessary. Topical povidone-iodine is an effective initial strategy for giant omphaloceles and does not produce clinically significant hypothyroidism.