• R González-Cortés, J López-Herce-Cid, A García-Figueruelo, G Tesorero-Carcedo, M Botrán-Prieto, and A Carrillo-Álvarez.
• Servicio de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, España.
• Med Intensiva. 2011 Oct 1;35(7):417-23.

ObjectiveTo analyze mortality and resource consumption in patients with long stays in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs).DesignA retrospective, descriptive case series study.ScopeMedical-surgical PICU in a third level hospital.PatientsData were collected from patients with a stay of 28 days or more in PICU between 2006 and 2010. Of the 2118 patients assisted in this period, 83 (3.9%) required prolonged stay.Study VariablesMorbidity-mortality and resource consumption among patients with prolonged stay in the PICU.ResultsMortality was higher in patients with a long stay (22.9%) than in the rest of patients (2%) (p<0.001). In 52.6% of these patients, death occurred after withdrawal of treatment or after not starting resuscitation measures. Patients with prolonged stay showed a high incidence of nosocomial infection (96.3%) and an important consumption of healthcare resources (97.6% required conventional mechanical ventilation, 90.2% required transfusion of blood products, 86.7% required intravenous vasoactive drugs and 22.9% required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [ECMO]).ConclusionsCritical children with prolonged stay in the PICU show important morbidity and mortality, and an important consumption of healthcare resources. The adoption of specific measures permitting early identification of patients at risk of prolonged stay is needed in order to adapt therapeutic measures and available resources, and to improve treatment efficiency.Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

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