• T A Walker.
• Department of Pediatrics, Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children, University of Mississippi Medical Center, USA.
• J Miss State Med Assoc. 1999 Nov 1; 40 (11): 371-5.

AbstractThe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is now well recognized as a cause of respiratory failure in children and is associated with a high mortality rate. We retrospectively reviewed all cases of ARDS managed in our multidisciplinary pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from 1994 to 1998 in order to identify predisposing conditions, outcomes, complications, recent trends in therapy, and resource utilization. Twenty-seven children were identified representing approximately 1% of all intensive care admissions. Sepsis was the most common predisposing illness and air leak complicated treatment in 60%. Mortality was 30% and was most often due to non-respiratory causes. High-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) was frequently utilized and felt to be beneficial in most cases. On average, survivors required mechanical ventilation for five weeks and hospitalization for nine weeks. We conclude that despite our comparatively low mortality rate, ARDS remains a significant challenge to the pediatric intensivist. We speculate that HFOV may be an important factor in reducing mortality.

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