Clinical Professor Meredith Borland | Consultant, Emergency Department
Meredith.Borland@health.wa.gov.au

Departmental Overview

The Emergency Department currently manages over 65,000 patients per year with a wide variety of acute conditions in children from birth to 16 years. There are a number of research projects running within the ED, some solely within ED and some in collaboration with PCH inpatient teams (immunology, anaesthetics, general paediatrics, respiratory medicine, orthopaedics and oncology), TKI and multicentre studies through our involvement in the Paediatric Research in Emergency Department International Collaborative (PREDICT) network and the international Paediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN). 

Current Active Research Projects

Predicting Severe Pneumonia in Children:  A Global Study of the Pediatric Emergency Research Networks (PERN)

BiPED - an international multicentre clinical RCT to determine if treatment of infants presenting with bronchiolitis to the ED with nebulised adrenaline (epinephrine) and 2-day course of oral dexamethasone is effective in reducing the need for hospitalisation (due to bronchiolitis) by day 7 compared to placebo. The primary outcome will be admission to hospital up to 7 days following enrolment. 

Research Projects in Planning

STOP

STOP is a pilot trial studying an alternative method of managing secondary post tonsillectomy haemorrhage (sPTH) within the Emergency Department (ED).  The primary outcome is to determine if nebulised tranexamic acid is non inferior to standard therapy in secondary post tonsillectomy haemorrhage (sPTH) in children presenting for early management in the emergency department. Measured by a change in grade of severity of bleeding according to the modified Stammberger classification of sPTH performed at 30 minutes from initial ED medical assessment.

SONIC

A derivation and validation of imaging rules for children with neck injuries.

PROMPT Bolus

To determine if fluid resuscitation with balanced fluids will improve clinical outcomes compared to fluid resuscitation with Normal Saline in paediatric septic shock.

WA Implementation Bronchiolitis Improvement project

Review of bronchiolitis management at PCH and 3 West Australian secondary and regional hospitals  in line with the Australasian Bronchiolitis Guideline

ED Mental Health

Multiple studies relating to ED mental health presentations, behavioural disturbance and safety planning as part of collaboration in the MRFF Million Minds grant "The kids are not OK" project.

Pain Management and Sedation in Pediatric Ileocolic Intussusception

A Global, Multicenter, Retrospective Study. This study, also known as PAINT (PAin in INTussusception), aims to explore our practices and outcomes of analgesia and sedation use for reduction of intussusception.

Study of Paediatric Appendicitis Scores and Management Strategies (SPASMS)

This project aims to validate the three most commonly used paediatric appendicitis scores (PAS, AS and pARC) in Australian and New Zealand EDs providing evidence that will be relevant for local use outside their derivation healthcare settings.