Outpatient Management of Febrile Children with Sickle Cell Disease

Elizabeth Sokol, Emily Obringer, Brett Palama, Joseph Hageman, Radhika Peddinti*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The electronic medical records at 2 children's hospitals were reviewed from June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2013 for all patients with sickle cell disease who presented with fever. Of a total of 390 blood cultures drawn, 11 cultures (2.8%) turned positive with only 1 (0.3%) growing a true pathogen. This culture turned positive in 13 hours. There were 154 patients who received exclusive outpatient management of fever. Fourteen patients (9.1%) completed 1 acute care visit, 16 patients (10.4%) completed 2 acute care visits, and 124 patients (80.5%) completed 3 acute care visits. Of those treated exclusively as outpatients, there was 1 positive culture that was considered a contaminant. Although the overall rate of positivity was low, this study confirms previous findings that pediatric blood cultures become positive with pathogens within 48 hours. Given the high rate of compliance and early time to positivity of true pathogens, we suggest that follow-up for the febrile sickle cell disease patients can be treated on an outpatient basis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)268-271
Number of pages4
JournalClinical pediatrics
Volume55
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2016

Keywords

  • antibiotics
  • fever
  • sickle cell disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health

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