scholarly journals Utility of the Color-Coded Duplex Neurosonographic Spectrum in Critically Ill Children in Resource-Limited Centers: A Case Series

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Caqui-Vilca ◽  
Jesús Dominguez-Rojas ◽  
Javier Ponce ◽  
Gabriel Omar Heredia-Orbegoso
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Diagnostic Method ◽  
Neurocritical Care ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Therapeutic Measures ◽  
Flow Changes ◽  
Pediatric Neurocritical Care

Abstract Ultrasound in pediatric neurocritical care has a wide variety of indications, such as the study of vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage, flow changes in intracranial stenosis, endocranial hypertension and to evaluate some therapeutic measures. The following is a series of five most relevant cases collected from Pediatric Intensive Care with abnormal images in transcranial duplex (TCD) and their typical findings in this type of studies. Transcranial duplex offers a diagnostic method of rapid evaluation that provides reliable information for decision making in pediatric intensive care, but it is a tool with which there is little experience in the country, so these findings are didactic and should be complemented with studies of greater diagnostic relevance.

Etiology of Fever and Opportunities for Reduction of Antibiotic Use in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (08) ◽  
pp. 499-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Toltzis ◽  
Bonnie Rosolowski ◽  
Ann Salvator
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Axillary Temperature ◽  
Prospective Case Series

Abstract Objective: To determine the cause of fever in critically ill children and to identify opportunities for reducing antibiotic use in this population. Design: Prospective case series. Setting: A tertiary-care medical-surgical pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Patients: Children admitted to the PICU who experienced fever (axillary temperature >38.3°C). Measurements: Consecutive children who were febrile at any point in their PICU stay were investigated over two winter seasons. Etiology of the fever was determined by physical examination and routine microbiology and radiographic tests. Three subgroups were reviewed to approximate the number of antibiotic-days that could have been reduced; namely, those with an indeterminate source, those with a documented viral infection, and those receiving a prolonged course of antibiotics. A set of standards reflecting common antibiotic use then was applied to these three patient groups. Results: Of 211 subjects, the majority (83.3%) had either a definitive or suspected focus for their fever, and nearly all of these patients were judged to have an infectious etiology. The study population received a total of 2,036 antibiotic-days. Despite the high incidence of infectious causes of fever in our subjects, however, approximately 15% of total antibiotic-days could have been reduced by applying common-use standards. Conclusions: Fever in the PICU was usually of defined focus and infectious in origin. However, among febrile patients in the PICU, substantial opportunity exists for reduction of antibiotic use. Trials determining the safety of antibiotic reduction in this population should be pursued vigorously.

scholarly journals Gastrointestinal complications in critically ill children: Experience from a resource-limited country

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidra Ishaque ◽  
Marium Shakir ◽  
Asma Ladak ◽  
Anwar Ul Haque
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Critically Ill ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
Gastrointestinal Complications ◽  
Resource Limited

Objectives: To determine the frequency and predictors of outcome of gastrointestinal complications (GIC) in critically ill children. Methods: This descriptive study was prospectively conducted in The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, from September 2015 to January 2017. After obtaining approval from the Ethical Review Committee of AKUH and informed consent from the parents, all children (aged one month to 18 years), of either gender, admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) during the study period were included. The frequency of the defined GIC: vomiting, high gastric residue volume (GRV), diarrhea, constipation, and gastrointestinal bleed were recorded daily for the first week of the PICU stay. The data was collected by the primary investigator on a predesigned data collection form with inclusion of variables and predictors in light of existing literature and local expertise. The questionnaire was shared with the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine faculty and a consensus was sought on the elements to be incorporated. Results: GIC developed within the first 48 hours of admission in 78 (41%) patients. Of the patients who developed GIC, 37 (47.4%) patients developed high GRV: 31 (39.7%) patients developed constipation, 18 (23.1%) patients developed vomiting, 14 (17.9%) patients developed abdominal distension. With regards to prevalence by occurrence, 32/78 (41%) of patients presented with two GI complications, followed by 21 patients (27%) who presented with a single GIC. Only 11 patients (14%) presented with more than three complications. Median length of stay was higher in patients with GIC (8 days) than with those who did not develop GIC (4 days). The frequency of gastrointestinal complications was significantly higher in children receiving mechanical ventilation, on sedatives and relaxants and those with multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and inotropes Conclusion: GI complications are a frequent occurrence in the PICU and are associated with worse clinical outcomes. The use of sedative drugs and the presence of shock with MODS were amongst the important contributing factors. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.3493 How to cite this:Ishaque S, Shakir M, Ladak A, Anwar-Ul-Haque. Gastrointestinal complications in critically ill children: Experience from a resource-limited country. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(3):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.3493 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

scholarly journals Multiple organ dysfunction in children admitted at pediatric intensive care unit of the Children Hospital, Multan.

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 2345-2349
Author(s):  
Huma Iqbal ◽  
Asim Khurshid ◽  
Ayesha Fayyaz
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Organ Dysfunction ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Multiple Organ ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Multiple Organ Dysfunction ◽  
Residential Status

Objectives: Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is commonly encountered by pediatricians in Pediatric Intensive care Units (PICUs) among critically ill children. This study was done to find out the frequency of MODS in children admitted at PICU. Study Design: Case series. Setting: Department of Pediatrics Medicine, The Children’s hospital and the Institute of Child Health, Multan. Period: From May to November 2019. Material & Methods: Variables recorded for each case included age, gender, residential status, maternal education, height, weight and BMI. Venous blood sample was sent to the hospital pathology laboratory for baseline investigations to diagnose MODS. Results: Of these 101 study cases, majority, 61 (60.4 %) were male, 51 (50.5 %) belonged to rural areas, 74 (73.3%) from middle income families and 72 (71.3%) mothers of admitted children were illiterate. Overall mean age was 3.62 ± 1.95 years while mean body mass index was 24.85 ± 2.20 kg/m.2 Mean duration of PICU stay was 4.31 ± 3.39 day and 69 (68.3 %) had duration of PICU stay up to 5 days. Of these 101 study cases, multiple organ dysfunction was noted in 33 (32.7%). Conclusion: High Frequency of MOD was observed among children admitted to PICU. MODS was found to have association with male gender, residential status as rural, maternal education status as illiterate, obesity and duration of PICU of more than 5 days.

scholarly journals Paediatric admissions to a district general hospital adult intensive care unit over a six year period: A single centre retrospective case series, with review of practitioner confidence and competence in paediatric critical care

2021 ◽  
pp. 175114372110121
Author(s):  
Stephen A Spencer ◽  
Joanna S Gumley ◽  
Marcin Pachucki
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Intensive Care Units ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Single Centre ◽  
Retrospective Case ◽  
Retrospective Case Series ◽  
Paediatric Critical Care ◽  
Doctors And Nurses

Background Critically ill children presenting to district general hospitals (DGH) are admitted to adult intensive care units (AICUs) for stabilisation prior to transfer to paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Current training in PICU for adult intensive care physicians is only three months. This single centre retrospective case series examines the case mix of children presenting to a DGH AICU and a multidisciplinary survey assesses confidence and previous experience, highlighting continued training needs for DGH AICU staff. Methods all paediatric admissions to AICU and paediatric retrievals were reviewed over a 6-year period (2014-2019). Cases were identified from the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) and from data provided by the regional paediatric retrieval service. A questionnaire survey was sent to AICU doctors and nurses to assess confidence and competence in paediatric critical care. Results Between 2014-2019, 284 children were managed by AICU. In total 35% of cases were <1 y, 48% of cases were <2 y and 64% of cases were <5 y, and 166/284 (58%) children were retrieved. Retrieval reduced with increasing age (OR 0.49 [0.40-0.60], p < 0.0001). The survey had an 82% response rate, and highlighted that only 13% of AICU nurses and 50% of doctors had received prior PICU training. Conclusion At least one critically unwell child presents to the AICU each week. Assessment, stabilisation and management of critically unwell children are vital skills for DGH AICU staff, but confidence and competence are lacking. Formalised strategies are required to develop and maintain paediatric competencies for AICU doctors and nurses.

scholarly journals Use of body composition and phase angle analysis for the assessment of nutritional status and clinical outcomes in critically ill children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi-Hong Xiong ◽  
Xue-Mei Zheng ◽  
Guo-Ying Zhang ◽  
Meng-Jun Wu ◽  
Yi Qu
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Clinical Outcomes ◽  
Critically Ill ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Phase Angle ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Duration Time

Abstract BackgroundMalnutrition is highly prevalent in critically ill children in the pediatric intensive care unit .We aimed to investigate the efficiency of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measurements and phase angle (PhA) analysis for the assessment of nutritional risk and clinical outcomes in critically ill children.MethodsThis single-center observational study included patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Chengdu Women’s and Children’s Central Hospital. All patients underwent anthropometric measurement in the first 24 h of admission and underwent BIA measurements within 3 days after the admission. The patients were classified into different groups based on body mass index (BMI) for age. Electronic hospital medical records were reviewed to collect clinical data for each patient. All the obtained data were analyzed by the statistics method.ResultsThere were 204 patients enrolled in our study, of which 32.4% were diagnosed with malnutrition. We found that BMI, arm muscle circumference, fat mass, and %body fat were lower in the group with poorer nutritional status (P < 0.05). Evident differences in the score of the Pediatric Risk of Mortality and the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) among the three groups with different nutritional statuses were observed (P < 0.05). Patients in the severely malnourished group had the longest duration of MV. In the MV groups, there were significant differences (P < 0.05) in albumin level, PhA, and extracellular water/total body water (ECW/TBW ratio). The ECW/TBW ratio and the time for PICU stay had a weak degree of correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.375). PhA showed a weak degree of correlation with the duration time of medical ventilation (coefficient of correlation = 0.398).ConclusionBIA can be considered an alternative way to assess nutritional status in critically ill children. ECW/TBW ratio and PhA were correlated with PICU stay and duration time of medical ventilation, respectively.

scholarly journals Assessment of delirium in children admitted into the Intensive Care Unit: psCAM-ICU Tool

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-148
Author(s):  
Ángela María Henao Castaño ◽  
Edwar Yamith Pinzon Casas
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Critically Ill ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Confusion Assessment Method ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Primary Diagnosis ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Associated Risk Factors ◽  
Prolonged Hospital

Background: Delirium has been identified as a risk factor for the mortality of critically ill patients, generating great social and economic impacts, since patients require more days of mechanical ventilation and a prolonged hospital stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), thus increasing medical costs. Objective: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of delirium episodes in a sample of 6-month to 5-year-old children who are critically ill. Methods: Cohort study at a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in Bogotá (Colombia). Participants were assessed by the Preschool Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (psCAM-ICU) within the first twenty-four hours of hospitalization. Results: One quarter of the participants (25.8%) presented some type of delirium. Among them, two sub-types of delirium were observed: 62.5% of the cases were hypoactive and 37.5% hyperactive. Moreover, from them, six were male (75%) and 2 female (25%). Primary diagnosis was respiratory tract infection in 62.55% of the patients, while respiratory failure was diagnosed in the remaining 37.5%. Conclusions: The implementation of delirium monitoring tools in critically ill children provides a better understanding of the clinical manifestation of this phenomenon and associated risk factors in order to contribute to the design of efficient intervention strategies.

scholarly journals Severe manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 in children and adolescents: from COVID-19 pneumonia to multisystem inflammatory syndrome: a multicentre study in pediatric intensive care units in Spain

Critical Care ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto García-Salido ◽  
◽  
Juan Carlos de Carlos Vicente ◽  
Sylvia Belda Hofheinz ◽  
Joan Balcells Ramírez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care ◽  
Intensive Care Units ◽  
Gastrointestinal Symptoms ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care ◽  
Critically Ill Children ◽  
Vasoactive Drugs ◽  
Pediatric Intensive Care Units ◽  
Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio ◽  
Inflammatory Syndrome ◽  
To Receive

Abstract Background Multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with COVID-19 (MIS-C) has been described as a novel and often severe presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. We aimed to describe the characteristics of children admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) presenting with MIS-C in comparison with those admitted with SARS-CoV-2 infection with other features such as COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods A multicentric prospective national registry including 47 PICUs was carried out. Data from children admitted with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or fulfilling MIS-C criteria (with or without SARS-CoV-2 PCR confirmation) were collected. Clinical, laboratory and therapeutic features between MIS-C and non-MIS-C patients were compared. Results Seventy-four children were recruited. Sixty-one percent met MIS-C definition. MIS-C patients were older than non-MIS-C patients (p = 0.002): 9.4 years (IQR 5.5–11.8) vs 3.4 years (IQR 0.4–9.4). A higher proportion of them had no previous medical history of interest (88.2% vs 51.7%, p = 0.005). Non-MIS-C patients presented more frequently with respiratory distress (60.7% vs 13.3%, p < 0.001). MIS-C patients showed higher prevalence of fever (95.6% vs 64.3%, p < 0.001), diarrhea (66.7% vs 11.5%, p < 0.001), vomits (71.1% vs 23.1%, p = 0.001), fatigue (65.9% vs 36%, p = 0.016), shock (84.4% vs 13.8%, p < 0.001) and cardiac dysfunction (53.3% vs 10.3%, p = 0.001). MIS-C group had a lower lymphocyte count (p < 0.001) and LDH (p = 0.001) but higher neutrophil count (p = 0.045), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (p < 0.001), C-reactive protein (p < 0.001) and procalcitonin (p < 0.001). Patients in the MIS-C group were less likely to receive invasive ventilation (13.3% vs 41.4%, p = 0.005) but were more often treated with vasoactive drugs (66.7% vs 24.1%, p < 0.001), corticosteroids (80% vs 44.8%, p = 0.003) and immunoglobulins (51.1% vs 6.9%, p < 0.001). Most patients were discharged from PICU by the end of data collection with a median length of stay of 5 days (IQR 2.5–8 days) in the MIS-C group. Three patients died, none of them belonged to the MIS-C group. Conclusions MIS-C seems to be the most frequent presentation among critically ill children with SARS-CoV-2 infection. MIS-C patients are older and usually healthy. They show a higher prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and shock and are more likely to receive vasoactive drugs and immunomodulators and less likely to need mechanical ventilation than non-MIS-C patients.

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