Variability in Kawasaki Disease Practice Patterns: A Survey of Hospitalists at Pediatric Hospital Medicine 2017

Objective: To explore practice variations in the care of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) among pediatric hospitalist physicians (PHPs).

Methods: A 13-item questionnaire was developed by a multi-institutional group of KD experts. The survey was administered via live-audience polling by using smartphone technology during a KD plenary session at the 2017 Pediatric Hospital Medicine National Meeting, and simple descriptive statistics were calculated.

Results: Of the 297 session attendees, 90% responded to at least 1 survey question. Approximately three-quarters of respondents identified as PHPs practicing in the United States. The reported length of inpatient monitoring after initial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy demonstrated a wide time distribution (30% 24 hours, 36% 36 hours, and 31% 48 hours). Similarly, PHP identification of the treatment failure interval, indicated by recrudescent fever after IVIG, demonstrated a broad distribution (56% 24 hours, 27% 36 hours, and 16% 48 hours). Furthermore, there was variation in routine consultation with non-PHP subspecialists. In contrast, PHPs reported little variation in their choice of initial and refractory treatment of patients with KD.

Conclusions: In a convenience sample at a national hospitalist meeting, there was variation in reported KD practice patterns, including observation time after initial treatment, time when the recurrence of fever after initial therapy was indicative of nonresponse to IVIG, and routine consultation of non-PHP subspecialists. These results may guide future study of KD practice patterns and inform efforts to improve evidence-based practices in the care of patients with KD.