Design and Implementation of a Pediatric ICU Acuity Scoring Tool as Clinical Decision Support

Design and Implementation of a Pediatric ICU Acuity Scoring Tool as Clinical Decision Support

Pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest most commonly occurs in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and is frequently preceded by early warning signs of clinical deterioration. In this study, we describe the implementation... read more

Adherence of Newborn-Specific Antibiotic Stewardship Programs to CDC Recommendations

Adherence of Newborn-Specific Antibiotic Stewardship Programs to CDC Recommendations

Significant gaps exist between CDC recommendations to improve antibiotic use and antibiotic practices during the newborn period. There is wide variation in point prevalence AURs. Three-quarters of infants who received antibiotics... read more

Against the Odds – When Statistics Fail the Patient

Against the Odds – When Statistics Fail the Patient

Do you want to cut the cord? the nurse asked. I watched my husband pick up the scissors, his hand trembling as he cautiously severed the lifeline that once connected our daughter, Anika, to me. The nurse wrapped her in a... read more

A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial of Levetiracetam vs. Phenytoin for Convulsive Status Epilepticus in Children

A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial of Levetiracetam vs. Phenytoin for Convulsive Status Epilepticus in Children

Convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) is the most common life-threatening childhood neurological emergency. Despite this, there is a lack of high quality evidence supporting medication use after first line benzodiazepines,... read more

Optimum Chest Compression Point for CPR in Children Revisited Using a 3D Coordinate System Imposed on CT

Optimum Chest Compression Point for CPR in Children Revisited Using a 3D Coordinate System Imposed on CT

The optimum chest compression site (P_optimum) in children is debated: European Resuscitation Council recommends one finger breadth above the xiphisternal joint, whereas American Heart Association proposes the lower sternal... read more

Feasibility and Perceptions of PICU Diaries

Feasibility and Perceptions of PICU Diaries

The use of ICU diaries in the PICU setting is feasible and perceived as beneficial by families of critically ill children. Future studies are needed to better understand if PICU diaries may objectively improve psychologic... read more

Sedation and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in PICU

Sedation and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in PICU

As little as 30 minutes of exposure to anesthetic and sedative agents may adversely affect the developing brain. Safe, humane management of critically ill infants requires the use of sedative agents, often for prolonged periods.... read more

Metabolic-based Biomarkers Have Potential to Triage Children with Sepsis

Metabolic-based Biomarkers Have Potential to Triage Children with Sepsis

A new study has validated potential biomarkers for a sepsis-triage model to distinguish sepsis patients requiring care in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from sepsis identified in the pediatric emergency department... read more

What It’s Like in Pediatric Critical Care

What It’s Like in Pediatric Critical Care

As a medical student, do you ever wonder what it's like to specialize in pediatric critical care? Meet Joanna Kuppy, MD, a critical care pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Rush University Medical Center,... read more

Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care

Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care

A comprehensive text on respiratory care for neonates, infants, and children, Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care, 4th Edition provides a solid foundation in the assessment and treatment of respiratory care disorders.... read more

Early Mobilization in the PICU

Early Mobilization in the PICU

Mobilization of critically ill children, many with central lines, endotracheal tubes, and other life-saving devices, is associated with potential risks and complications. Hence, concerns about safety often guide staff perceptions... read more

Should Pediatric Intensive Care Be Centralized? Trent vs. Victoria

Should Pediatric Intensive Care Be Centralized? Trent vs. Victoria

The mortality rate is lower among children admitted to specialist pediatric intensive care units (ICUs) than among those admitted to mixed adult and pediatric units in non-tertiary hospitals. In the UK, however, few children... read more

Comparing Percutaneous to Open Access for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Pediatric Respiratory Failure

Comparing Percutaneous to Open Access for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Pediatric Respiratory Failure

The proportion of pediatric patients undergoing percutaneous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation is increasing. Mechanical and physiologic complications occur with both methods of cannulation, but percutaneous... read more

Approach to the Critically Ill Child: Shock

Approach to the Critically Ill Child: Shock

If you mainly treat adults or both adults and children like me, then you have probably heard the (very annoying) quote, "kids are not just small adults", and so I won't say it again. Well, I guess I just did, but at least... read more

The A.S.P.E.N. Pediatric Nutrition Support Core Curriculum

The A.S.P.E.N. Pediatric Nutrition Support Core Curriculum

A valuable resource for certification preparation and the daily nutrition care of pediatric patients focusing on the importance of nutrition to the growth and development of children. Written with an interdisciplinary evidence-based... read more

PICU Outcomes and Outcome Predictions

PICU Outcomes and Outcome Predictions

Interview with Dr. Murray Pollack, the Director of Outcomes Research at the Children's National Medical Center and Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Severity of illness research... read more

Benzodiazepines and Development of Delirium in Critically Ill Children

Benzodiazepines and Development of Delirium in Critically Ill Children

Benzodiazepines are an independent and modifiable risk factor for development of delirium in critically ill children, even after carefully controlling for time-dependent covariates, with a dose-response effect. This temporal... read more