Bertone, S.; Denina, M.; Pagano, M.; Delmonaco, A.G.; Castagno, E.; Bondone, C. Red Code Management in a Pediatric Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study. Children2024, 11, 462.
Bertone, S.; Denina, M.; Pagano, M.; Delmonaco, A.G.; Castagno, E.; Bondone, C. Red Code Management in a Pediatric Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study. Children 2024, 11, 462.
Bertone, S.; Denina, M.; Pagano, M.; Delmonaco, A.G.; Castagno, E.; Bondone, C. Red Code Management in a Pediatric Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study. Children2024, 11, 462.
Bertone, S.; Denina, M.; Pagano, M.; Delmonaco, A.G.; Castagno, E.; Bondone, C. Red Code Management in a Pediatric Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study. Children 2024, 11, 462.
Abstract
The “red code” (RD) represents the highest levels of emergency in the emergency department (ED). The study retrospectively analyzed RDs in the Regina Margherita Children’s Hospital ED, a regional referral center in north Italy, between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2023. The aim was to describe RD characteristics and to identify significant correlations between presenting complaints and clinical management. The study includes 934 RDs (0.9% of overall ED admissions); 64% were assigned based on the Pediatric Assessment Triangle alteration. Most patients, 86.5%, followed the medical pathway, while 13.5% were surgical cases. Admission complaints were respiratory (46.9%), neuropsychiatric (26.7%), traumatic (11.8%), cardiologic (9.3%), metabolic (3.8%), and surgical (1.5%). Seventy-six per cent of patients received vascular access, and intraosseous access was obtained in 2.2% of them. In one-third of RDs, an urgent critical care evaluation was necessary, and 19% of cases required admission to the intensive care unit. The overall mortality rate was 3.4% (0.4% in ED setting). The study identified six distinct diagnostic pathways, each associated with specific characteristics in clinical presentation, management, therapeutic interventions, and outcomes: this underscored the significance of a systematic approach in improving outcomes in pediatric RD management.
Keywords
red code; emergency department; diagnostic pathways
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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