• Douglas F Willson, Angela Webster, Sabrina Heidemann, Kathleen L Meert, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN).
• 1Children's Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. 2University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. 3Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2016 Apr 1; 17 (4): 287293287-93.

ObjectivesThe Critical Illness Stress-Induced Immune Suppression prevention trial was a randomized, masked trial of zinc, selenium, glutamine, and metoclopramide compared with whey protein in delaying nosocomial infection in PICU patients. One fourth of study subjects were diagnosed with nosocomial lower respiratory infection, which contributed to subjects receiving antibiotics 74% of all patient days in the PICU. We analyzed diagnostic and treatment variability among the participating institutions and compared outcomes between nosocomial lower respiratory infection subjects (n = 74) and intubated subjects without nosocomial infection (n = 1 55).DesignPost hoc analysis.SettingEight hospitals in the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network.PatientsCritical Illness Stress-Induced Immune Suppression study subjects.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsVariability across institutions existed in the frequency and manner by which respiratory secretion cultures were obtained, processed, and results reported. Most results were reported semiquantitatively, and both Gram stains and antibiotic sensitivities were frequently omitted. The nosocomial lower respiratory infection diagnosis was associated with increased PICU lengths of stay compared with those who were intubated without nosocomial infection (24 ± 19 vs 9 ± 6 d; p < 0.001) and antibiotic use (38 ± 29 vs 15 ± 20 antibiotics days; p < 0.001). Despite antibiotic treatment, the same bacteria persisted in 45% of follow-up cultures.ConclusionsThe Critical Illness Stress-Induced Immune Suppression data demonstrate that the nosocomial lower respiratory infection diagnosis is associated with longer lengths of stay and increased antibiotic use, but there is considerable diagnostic and treatment variability across institutions. More rigorous standards for when and how respiratory cultures are obtained, processed, and reported are necessary. Bacterial persistence also complicates the interpretation of follow-up cultures.

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