Hospitalized kids get too many infections, study finds

ST. LOUIS — Hospitalized children suffer too many infections and other preventable complications that extend their stays and cost millions, according to a study released today.

Researchers found that some complications occurred in up to 4 percent of children treated at 38 children's hospitals nationwide.

Children are three times more susceptible to infections in hospitals compared with adults, the study shows. Better hand washing, sterilization, preventive antibiotic treatments and other safety techniques can help reduce hospital-based infections.

"I disagree with the notion that we should take it as a given that some infections will happen," said the study's co-author, Dr. Matthew Kronman, an infectious-disease specialist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "I think we can do better."

Researchers studied the medical records of thousands of children hospitalized in 2006, looking for 12 complications known as adverse events by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The complications include infections from catheters, bedsores, accidental punctures and foreign objects left in children's bodies after surgery.

Children and adults suffer different complications at different rates, and the study is the first to analyze pediatric patients alone.

Children are more likely than adults to have some complications, such as postoperative infections and hemorrhaging, but less likely to suffer others, such as bedsores.

The study found that of 430,000 children hospitalized in 2006, more than 6,600 suffered complications caused by their care. Also, 4,300 of the total number of children studied died, but it is not clear whether the deaths resulted from medical mistakes.

"We need to do a better job of identifying ways to prevent some of these complications," said study leader Dr. Samir Shah, an infectious-disease specialist at the Philadelphia hospital.

"A lot of the ongoing safety efforts have focused on adults, but complications of medical care have a clear impact on children's health as well as the costs of caring for children."

Researchers said that the nearly 3,000 cases of infections caused by medical care were distressingly high.

"If we were to eliminate all infection due to medical care, that would save over $700 million in charges each year," Kronman said.

The complications lengthened hospital stays from a range of three days for accidental lacerations to 24 days for sepsis, an infection of the bloodstream. The resulting additional charges ranged from $35,000 to $337,000, according to the report.

Medicare and some private insurers have recently announced they will stop paying for certain preventable medical errors.

Co-author Shah said the report, published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics, could lead to changes in nurse-to-patient ratios as well as hospital safety policies.