• Thomas Brick, Rachel S Agbeko, Patrick Davies, Peter J Davis, Akash Deep, Peter-Marc Fortune, David P Inwald, Amy Jones, Richard Levin, Kevin P Morris, John Pappachan, Samiran Ray, Shane M Tibby, Lyvonne N Tume, Mark J Peters, and UK Paediatric Intensive Care Society Study Group (PICS-SG).
• Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. thomas.brick@gmail.com.
• Eur. J. Pediatr. 2017 Mar 1; 176 (3): 423-427.

AbstractThe role played by fever in the outcome of critical illness in children is unclear. This survey of medical and nursing staff in 35 paediatric intensive care units and transport teams in the United Kingdom and Ireland established attitudes towards the management of children with fever. Four hundred sixty-two medical and nursing staff responded to a web-based survey request. Respondents answered eight questions regarding thresholds for temperature control in usual clinical practice, indications for paracetamol use, and readiness to participate in a clinical trial of permissive temperature control. The median reported threshold for treating fever in clinical practice was 38 °C (IQR 38-38.5 °C). Paracetamol was reported to be used as an analgesic and antipyretic but also for non-specific comfort indications. There was a widespread support for a clinical trial of a permissive versus a conservative approach to fever in paediatric intensive care units. Within a trial, 58% of the respondents considered a temperature of 39 °C acceptable without treatment.

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