Rate of Adverse Medical Device Events “Substantial” in Pediatric Hospitals

Of 4.1 million admissions to 44 tertiary care children’s hospital from 2004 through 2011, 3.3% involved at least one adverse medical device event, according to a brief report published June 7, 2013, in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. The retrospective study used data for all inpatient stays with a diagnosis related to an adverse medical device event in the Pediatric Health Information System database. The diagnoses included those present on admission and those that arose during a hospital stay. Despite increases in overall admissions, the number of admissions involving adverse medical device events decreased over the last four years of the study period. The study reported on characteristics of admissions with adverse medical device events. The median patient age was six years; however, patients age two years or younger at the first admission involving an adverse medical device event were the largest age category, accounting for 40% of admissions.