Posted: March 18th, 2023

Practice-Pediatric Acute Bacterial Sinusitis

Practice-Pediatric Acute Bacterial Sinusitis

No plagiarism Please. Will need references and intext citations in template.

Please read instructions carefully to ensure maximum grade.

Applying Current Evidence Based Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Bacterial Sinusitis in Pediatric Patients Using Healthcare Informatics.

This assignment will demonstrate your ability to use healthcare informatics to apply current evidence-based practice guidelines to the management of a pediatric patient diagnosed with acute bacterial sinusitis.

The guidelines that you are to use are in the following article available in the online Purdue Global library.

Hauk, L. (2014). AAP releases guideline on diagnosis and management of acute bacterial sinusitis in children one to 18 years of age. American Family Physician, 89(8), 676-681.

This assignment has a template that you will use to fill in the requested information.

Assignment Details

For this Assignment, you are going to write a paper explaining how you developed your argument through the four stages (theorizing, syntax, theory testing, and evaluation). Your paper must be 3 to 5 pages, not including the title and reference pages.

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Acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) is a common condition in pediatric patients that can cause discomfort, reduced quality of life, and potentially serious complications if not managed appropriately. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published guidelines on the diagnosis and management of ABS in children one to 18 years of age. This paper will demonstrate the use of healthcare informatics to apply current evidence-based practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ABS in a pediatric patient.

Theorizing
The AAP guidelines recommend that the diagnosis of ABS in pediatric patients be made based on the presence of persistent symptoms, such as nasal discharge, cough, or facial pain, for 10 days or more without improvement or with the onset of severe symptoms, such as high fever or purulent nasal discharge, for three to four consecutive days. The guidelines also recommend that the diagnosis of ABS be confirmed by imaging studies only in children with severe or worsening symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, or vision changes, or with complications of ABS, such as orbital or intracranial complications (Hauk, 2014).

Syntax
In a hypothetical case, a four-year-old male patient presents to the clinic with a five-day history of nasal congestion, cough, and low-grade fever. The patient has no history of allergies or sinusitis. The clinician obtains a history and performs a physical examination, which reveals the presence of nasal discharge, but no facial pain or tenderness. Based on the AAP guidelines, the clinician would suspect ABS and initiate a watchful waiting approach for up to 10 days, with supportive care and antibiotics if the symptoms persist or worsen. The clinician would educate the patient’s parents on the signs and symptoms of worsening ABS, such as high fever, severe headache, or visual changes, and advise them to seek medical attention if these occur (Hauk, 2014).

Theory Testing
If the patient’s symptoms persist or worsen after 10 days, the clinician would order a sinus radiograph or a computed tomography (CT) scan of the sinuses to confirm the diagnosis of ABS and assess the extent of the disease. The clinician would also obtain a culture of the sinus aspirate or a nasal swab for microbiologic analysis to guide antibiotic therapy. Based on the AAP guidelines, the recommended first-line antibiotics for ABS in pediatric patients are amoxicillin-clavulanate, cefdinir, or cefuroxime. The clinician would prescribe the appropriate antibiotic based on the patient’s age, weight, allergies, and previous antibiotic use (Hauk, 2014).

Evaluation
The clinician would follow up with the patient after two to three days of antibiotic therapy to assess the response to treatment and to ensure that the patient is not experiencing any adverse effects of the medication. The clinician would also advise the patient’s parents to complete the full course of antibiotic therapy and to return to the clinic if the symptoms persist or worsen despite treatment. The clinician would reevaluate the patient after 10 to 14 days of antibiotic therapy to assess the resolution of symptoms and to determine the need for further follow-up or imaging studies (Hauk, 2014).

The use of healthcare informatics to apply current evidence-based practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of ABS in pediatric patients can improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The AAP guidelines provide a framework for the diagnosis and management of ABS in pediatric patients, based on the best available evidence. Clinicians should be aware of these guidelines and should use them to guide their practice. Future research should focus on the development of more accurate and reliable diagnostic tests for ABS and the optimization of antibiotic therapy to reduce the risk of resistance and adverse effects.

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