{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T13:03:51Z","timestamp":1780319031550,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"6","content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To evaluate rates of critical illness and significant infection among children discharged from the emergency department (ED) with a pending blood culture.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a cross-sectional study of children 90 days to 18 years old discharged from one of 37 pediatric EDs between 2016 and 2024 with a complete blood count or C-reactive protein performed. Our primary outcome was a diagnosis of specific bacteremia on representation to the ED within 3 days. Secondary outcomes on 3-day return visit included: (1) sepsis, (2) intensive care unit admission, and (3) receipt of \u22653 days of systemic antibiotics. We evaluated for differences in outcomes based on the performance of a blood culture on the index visit.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We included 416,357 discharges (median encounter age 6.3 y, IQR: 2.1 to 12.7). Of these, 229,269 (55.1%) had a blood culture collected. Among encounters with a blood culture, 0.1% (n = 151; 95% CI: 0.1-0.1) had specific bacteremia on return visit. Encounters with a blood culture at the index visit had higher odds of specific bacteremia [odds ratio (OR) 10.86, 95% CI: 5.8-20.34], sepsis (OR: 3.16, 95% CI: 1.88-5.30), intensive care unit admission (OR: 2.82, 95% CI: 1.94-4.12), and \u22653 days of systemic antibiotics (OR: 4.77, 95% CI: 4.17-5.46).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Children discharged with a pending blood culture have higher rates of significant bacteremia and other clinically important return visits than children discharged without a blood culture, though absolute rates of these outcomes were low. Improved guidelines are needed to better identify children who require blood cultures.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1097\/pec.0000000000003568","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T05:00:13Z","timestamp":1770267613000},"page":"427-434","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Outcomes of Children Discharged from the Emergency Department With a Pending Blood Culture"],"prefix":"10.1097","volume":"42","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-7003-2027","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jennifer Y.","family":"Colgan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine; Ann & Robert H. 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