Table 3

Trigger rules employed in paediatric adverse drug event (ADE) computerised surveillance

Rule code	Rule name	Rule type^*	Total trigger rule alerts	Total ADEs	Positive predictive values (%) (95% CI)	ADEs per 1000 patient days
Rule code	Rule name	Rule type^*	Total trigger rule alerts	Total ADEs	Positive predictive values (%) (95% CI)	(95% CI)
New paediatric-specific trigger rules (patients <18 years old)
P1	Calcium ionised >1.5 mg/dl	Lab only	44	0	0	0
P2	Chloride <80 mEq/l	Lab only	19	0	0	0
P3	Magnesium >3.5 mEq/l	Lab only	26	0	0	0
P4	Potassium >7 mEq/l	Lab only	32	0	0	0
P5	Sodium <120 mEq/l	Lab only	9	0	0	0
P6	Sodium >157 mEq/l	Lab only	25	0	0	0
P7	Total bilirubin >20 mg/dl	Lab only	10	0	0	0
P8	Triglycerides >500 mg/dl	Lab only	37	0	0	0
P9	Insulin and BG <50 mg/dl	Drug-lab	23	14	60.8 (40.7 to 77.9)	1.51 (0.72 to 2.23)
		Total	225	14	6.2 (3.0 to 11.9)	1.51 (0.72 to 2.23)
Existing adult trigger rules
A1	Dextrose 50% and BG <50 mg/dl	Drug-lab	7	4^†	57.1 (25.0 to 84.3)	0.43 (0.01 to 0.44)
A2	Polystyrene use	Drug only	5	0	0	0

↵* Example trigger description: lab only: fire if a paediatric patient has magnesium >3.5 mEq/l in the previous 24 h. Drug-lab: fire if a paediatric patient is on insulin and has a blood glucose (BG) <50 mg/dl in the previous 24 h.
↵† All four events were discovered by the P9 rule as well.