Healthcare Technology Featured Article

September 24, 2019

Dr. Stephen Odzer: Insight into Current Pediatric Developments and Trends




Pediatric trends are continually evolving due to changes in technology and treatments in the field of healthcare. Knowledge of such current trends is vital not only to parents but also to medical practitioners. These trends are updated as new findings from scientific and medical research arise to ensure that children receive the best treatment and care. Below are some of the current trends and developments in the pediatric field.

Albuterol for tonsillectomy patients

Children undergoing tonsillectomy experience a range of respiratory complications such as oxygen desaturation, coughing, obstructive sleep apnea, and laryngospasms. A recent placebo trial showed that treating children with albuterol before undergoing tonsillectomy reduced the episodes of these respiratory complications.

Dr. Stephen Odzer’s Approach to Peanut Allergies

Dr. Stephen Odzer is helping parents change their approach when it comes to preventing peanut allergies. A few years ago, exposure to peanuts was controlled and limited for patients who were thought to be at a high risk of becoming allergic to peanuts. This is not the case today. New research and studies indicate that exposing children to peanuts from a young age can help prevent the development of these allergies. Previously, the opposite was believed to be true.

Wider communication channels

The internet has not only revolutionized society, but also the medical field. With the availability of internet-based health portals, you have more channels to communicate with your pediatrician. Furthermore, there is the future possibility that you could have access to medical advice, getting prescription medication from your doctor and get your child treated in the comfort of your own home by logging into your portal.

Children muscle fitness

While many reviews have shown the benefits of children being physically active, few to none have shown benefits of using strength training to achieve muscle fitness in children. Studies have indicated that children with good muscle fitness are likely to have less insulin resistance, greater bone density, lower cardiovascular risk, and lower BMI later in life. Current pediatric guidelines emphasize the importance of muscle fitness in children. This includes physical activities and games that aim to strengthen muscles.

Pediatric Cardiovascular Risk Reduction

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently released a statement that provides guidelines on the reduction of cardiovascular risk in children. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute had previously released some guidelines, on which the AHA builds its statement. The current changes include moving from two-level to three-level approach to risk management and stratification and expanding lists of conditions that demand screening.

Risk of UTI in children and infants with bronchitis

In past studies, the occurrence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in young children and febrile infants with bronchitis was reported to be more than two percent. This number warrants a UTI evaluation. However, the majority of these studies detect UTI using positive urine cultures only. They did not need evidence of urinalysis or rapid dipstick infection as is currently required. As reported by Dr. Stephen Odzer, the prevalence of UTI in children with bronchitis is 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent in infants alone. These findings indicate that it is not necessary to evaluate febrile children with bronchitis for UTI unless other indications like ill appearance and urologic abnormalities are present.

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