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Discharged On Supplemental Oxygen From An
Discharged On Supplemental Oxygen From An
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(discharge from the hospital on RA, inclusion criteria. Of these, 2383 patient Two patients exceeded the suggested
discharge from the hospital on O2, or illnesses (57%) were initially discharged supplemental O2 of 0.5 L/minute, 1 being
admit/transfer), amount of O2 at dis- from the hospital on RA, 649 (15%) were discharged on 0.75 L/minute and the
charge from the PED if applicable, sub- discharged on O2, and 1162 (28%) were other on 1 L/minute. Both were during
sequent need for admission, and admitted or transferred to another fa- the first bronchiolitis season after the
reasons for subsequent admission and cility for admission (Fig 1). Of the 1162 initiation of the home O2 protocol. Nei-
adverse outcomes in patients discharged who were initially admitted or trans- ther of these patients was subsequently
initially on home O2 were abstracted ferred, 247 (21%) were not admitted on admitted.
from the electronic health record onto oxygen. Reasons for admission in these Of the 2383 patients who were dis-
a standardized data collection sheet. patients included, but were not limited charged from the hospital on RA, 90 (4%;
The primary outcome measures were to, age ,3 months, dehydration, and 95% CI 3.1–4.6) were subsequently ad-
the percentage of patients discharged need for frequent deep suctioning. The mitted. Of the 649 patients who were
from the PED on O2, the rates of sub- overall mean age of our study pop- discharged on O2, 38 (6%; 95% CI 4.3–
sequent admission, and rates of ad- ulation was 7.6 6 4.8 months, 59% were 7.9) were subsequently admitted (P =
verse outcomes for those discharged boys, and 56% had Medicaid. For those .03; Fig 1). The most common reasons
on O2. Secondary outcome measures patients discharged on O2, the mean age for subsequent admission were in-
were reasons for subsequent admis- was 8.9 6 4.4 months, 60% were boys, creased O2 requirement or increased
sion and cost savings. and 52% had Medicaid (Table 1). For work of breathing (Table 3). There were
Cost data for inpatient stays, PED, and patients who were discharged on O2 or no adverse outcomes, including ICU
observation visits were obtained from on RA, those who were subsequently admission or need for advanced air-
the facility’s finance department and admitted were younger than those who way management, defined as the use of
averaged over the study period. Au- were not (Table 1). continuous positive airway pressure, bi-
thorization to publish cost data were The mean lowest RA O2 saturation phasic positive airway pressure, or en-
given by the chief financial officer. We recorded for those patients discharged dotracheal intubation, in those patients
also attempted to contact the local from the hospital on O2 was 84% with an initially discharged on O2. There were 2
home oxygen company to assess the SD of 3%. The mean discharge amount patients initially seen in the PED and
cost of home oxygen. of supplemental O2 was 0.39 L/minute discharged on O2 who were subse-
Categorical variables were evaluated with an SD of 0.1 L/minute (Table 2). quently admitted for reasons other
with the x2 test or Fisher exact test.
Continuous variables were analyzed by
using either a Student t test or Wil-
coxon rank sum test. Relative risk and
confidence intervals (CI) of subsequent
admissions were calculated between
patients who were discharged from the
hospital on O2 and patients who were
not discharged on O2 during their ill-
ness. Demographic variables, including
age, gender, and insurance status, were
compared among these groups to en- FIGURE 1
Disposition of patients diagnosed with bronchiolitis.
sure equal distribution. Data were an-
alyzed by using SAS 9.2 (SAS Institute
Inc, Cary, NC). This study was approved TABLE 1 Demographic Characteristics of Study Population
and informed consent was waived by D/C on RA D/C on RA D/C on O2 D/C on O2
the Colorado Multiple Institutional Re- Overall (Not Admitted) Then Admitted (Not Admitted) Then Admitted Admit
view Board. Illnesses, n (%) 4194 2293 (55) 90 (2) 611 (15) 38 (0.9) 1158 (28)
Mean age, mo (SD) 7.6 (4.8) 7.8 (4.4)a 6.0 (5.0)a 8.9 (4.4)b 7.2 (3.8)b 6.3 (5.1)
Male patient (%) 2497 (59) 1371 (60) 63 (70) 364 (60) 28 (74) 671 (58)
RESULTS Medicaid (%) 2348 (56) 1340 (58) 54 (60) 319 (52) 22 (58) 613 (55)
D/C, discharged from hospital.
The study included 3983 patients with a P , .01: D/C home on RA (not admitted) versus D/C home on RA then admitted.
4194 discrete illnesses that met the b P = .03: D/C home on O (not admitted) versus D/C home on O then admitted.
2 2
e608 HALSTEAD et al
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Our historical bronchiolitis admission compared with our mean inpatient seen in these patients, it is not appro-
rate of 40% is similar to other rates length of stay of 2 days.6,24 If other priate to draw conclusions from this
reported in the literature. Mansbach institutions were to establish similar group of patients because their age is
et al and Corneli et al reported ad- home O2 protocols, especially those outside the protocol limits and the
mission rates of 40% and 43%, re- with a longer average length of stay, the number of patients in this group is small.
spectively.12,18 Our admission rate savings could be substantial. In our Our study has several limitations. It is
dropped from 40% to 31% over the previous work, we showed a trend to- retrospective in nature, and thus we
study period with our home O2 pro- ward fewer missed caregiver work- were unable to identify risk factors in
tocol without any other significant days in the group that was sent home patients who required subsequent ad-
changes in bronchiolitis care at our from the PED on O2.13 We were not able mission. Although there was a statisti-
institution. This absolute reduction of to collect these data for this study. We cally significant difference in vital signs
9% corresponds to a relative reduction were also unable to estimate the “cost” as well as in the use of racemic epi-
of 25%. Although there was statistical of the physician time. The total cost nephrine in those patients initially
significance (P = .03) between those savings of the home oxygen program discharged on RA who were or were not
patients who were subsequently ad- over traditional inpatient hospitaliza- subsequently admitted, this difference
mitted after being discharged from the tion is likely substantial, but this study was not seen in those initially dis-
hospital on RA, and those who were design does not allow us to calculate charged on O2 (Table 2). It is therefore
subsequently admitted after being the savings precisely. difficult to determine the true signifi-
discharged on O2 (Table 4), we do not Apnea is an important concern in the cance of this finding. We only have ac-
feel that this change is clinically signif- management of young infants with cess to data from our own hospital and
icant nor does it outweigh the benefit bronchiolitis. It has been shown that its network locations. Thus, our admis-
of reducing overall hospital admission. age and previous apnea are the 2 most sion rates may be an underestimate if
Treatment options for bronchiolitis have likely predictors of apnea.25–27 In a study patients were admitted at nonnetwork
shown little impact on admission rates of 691 patients admitted with bron- locations. This study was performed at
and length of stay, but we were able to chiolitis, Willwerth et al found 19 to an institution located at an altitude of
have a significant effect on our ad- have apnea while admitted. The patients 1600 m in an area where home O2 is
mission rate by successfully managing who experienced apnea were ,1 month prevalent for a variety of pediatric con-
approximately 15% of all bronchiolitis old, preterm, and ,48 weeks post- ditions, including bronchopulmonary
patients and 39% of all bronchiolitis conception, or had a witnessed apneic dysplasia and congenital heart dis-
patients with hypoxia (611 of 1564 episode at home.27 Per our home O2 ease, which may have affected the ease
patients) with home oxygen. protocol, these patients would not be of establishing a home O2 protocol and
In 2006, bronchiolitis admissions were considered low risk and therefore may limit its generalizability. We have
estimated to cost more than $500 mil- would not qualify for home O2. In this respiratory therapists available in the
lion annually with a mean cost of $3799 study, we had no patients who were PED 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They
per hospitalization, highlighting the need discharged on O2 who returned with perform home O2 teaching with the
for initiatives to safely reduce bron- apnea requiring advanced airway man- family and arrange for O2 to be delivered
chiolitis hospitalizations and thereby de- agement. Although we had 35 patients to their home. We also have support
crease health care costs.6 Some studies aged 1 to 3 months who were discharged from the PCPs in the community who
report a mean length of stay of 3 days on O2 and no adverse outcomes were have made themselves available to
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e610 HALSTEAD et al
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Discharged on Supplemental Oxygen From an Emergency Department in
Patients With Bronchiolitis
Sarah Halstead, Genie Roosevelt, Sara Deakyne and Lalit Bajaj
Pediatrics 2012;129;e605; originally published online February 13, 2012;
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-0889
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