Setting and Study Population
This is a single-center retrospective review of pediatric cancer
patients presenting with febrile neutropenia (FN) and culture confirmed
bacteremia at Rady Children’s Hospital between 2012 and 2018. The study
was approved by the institutional review board. Patients >
1 year old and < 21 years old with documented history of
malignancy who presented to the emergency department with FN and
bacteremia were included in the study. Patients were identified using
International Classification of Disease codes for febrile neutropenia
and bacteremia. All identified electronic medical records underwent
manual review and patients were excluded if they did not have a
documented malignancy, if they developed FN during hospital admission
for another indication, if they were treated at an outside facility
prior to presentation or if they received analgesic/antipyretic therapy
with any NSAID medications in conjunction with acetaminophen. Study
definitions used for fever, neutropenia and bacteremia are detailed in
Table 1.