Conclusions of the study authors: corticosteroids were associated with lower odds of surgical drainage among children with retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscesses.
Reviewers' comment: in this study, combined medical therapy with empirical antibiotic therapy and corticosteroids reduces the need for surgical treatment, opioids, and the final cost of treating retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscesses in children. A clinical trial with control of variables such as abscess size and microbiology could identify which patients would benefit the most.
Blanco Rodríguez C, Pérez-Moneo Agapito B. Evid Pediatr. 2022;18:14
Authors’ conclusions: education is effective for a good control of asthma, especially to reduce hospitalization and emergency department visits, and it is more effective if directed to both children and parents/guardians than only to children. The setting of asthma education does not impact the results to a large extent.
Reviewers’ commentary: education is effective in reducing the need of health care in children with asthma, although the best strategy still needs to be defined, in terms of scope, content and the educational agent.
Albi Rodríguez MS, Esparza Olcina MJ. Evid Pediatr. 2022;18:15
Authors´conclusions: CAP-1002 cell therapy appears to be safe and effective in reducing deterioration of upper limb function in patients with late-stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Various measures of cardiac function and structure were also improved in the CAP-1002 group compared with the placebo group. Longer-term extension studies are needed to confirm the therapeutic durability and safety of CAP-1002 beyond 12 months for the treatment of skeletal myopathy and cardiomyopathy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Reviewers´commentary: this clinical trial has shown that cellular therapy is safe and effective in stopping the deterioration of upper limb and heart functions in patients with late-stage Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Cuestas Montañés EJ, Pérez-Moneo Agapito B. Evid Pediatr. 2022;18:16
Authors´ conclusions: a single injection of nirsevimab given before the respiratory syncytial virus season protected healthy late-preterm and term infants from medically attended respiratory syncytial virus-associated lower respiratory tract infection.
Reviewers´ commentary: this is a complex study well designed and executed. Their results showed the need to treat 26 infants to prevent one episode of respiratory syncytial virus -associated lower respiratory tract infection, not necessarily serious. This benefit (not observed in the other main outcome studied: hospital admission) would hardly justify its widespread indication for prevention in the low-risk population studied. Independent cost-effectiveness studies would be necessary to estimate the usefulness and efficiency of nirsevimab and establish its indications.
Ochoa Sangrador C, Balaguer Santamaría A, González de Dios J. Evid Pediatr. 2022;18:17
Authors´ conclusions: in this retrospective cohort study, BNT162b2 vaccination was safe and was associated with a significantly lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting that vaccination in adolescent may reduce the burden of COVID-19.
Reviewers´ commentary: this study support the safety profile and effectiveness of BNT162b2 vaccine, with impact on the reduction of COVID-19 disease, in line with strategy for the control of the pandemic. The mutation capacity of the virus must be taken into consideration, different variants could have different response to the vaccine.
Fraile Astorga G, Ochoa Sangrador C. Evid Pediatr. 2022;18:18
Authors´ conclusions: children under 4 years of age allergic to peanuts who received oral allergen immunotherapy presented greater desensitization and remission to it, correlating with immunological biomarkers. Therefore, there seems to be a window of opportunity to become desensitized to peanuts in this age group.
Reviewers´ commentary: immunotherapy has been shown to be effective in achieving desensitization and remission in peanut-allergic children between 1 and 4 years of age. This effect was more evident in the younger age group and with lower levels of immunological markers.
Flores Villar S, Molina Arias M. Evid Pediatr. 2022;18:19
Editorial
