• Shantanu Shubham, Nitin Dhochak, Akanksha Singh, Sanjay Kumar Patel, Biswaroop Chakrabarty, Jhuma Sankar, Sheffali Gulati, S K Kabra, Ashok Kumar Jaryal, and Rakesh Lodha.
• Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2019 Sep 1; 20 (9): 826-831.

ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of critical illness polyneuropathy and its risk factors in critically ill children mechanically ventilated for 7 days or more.DesignObservational cohort study.SettingPICU of a tertiary care hospital from North India.PatientsChildren 1-15 years old admitted in PICU from June 2016 to September 2017, mechanically ventilated for 7 days or more, excluding those with diagnosed neuromuscular disease, stroke, or spinal pathology.InterventionDemographic details, diagnosis, treatment details, and anthropometry at admission and enrolment were recorded. Nerve conduction studies were performed after enrolment and repeated a week later, if the child was still in PICU. Medical Research Council scoring for muscle strength was performed in survivors. Risk factors including Pediatric Index of Mortality-2 score, sepsis, multiple organ dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia, use of steroids, neuromuscular-blocking agents, and vasopressors were recorded. Samples for the level of micronutrients (copper, zinc, folate, and vitamin B12) were collected at the time of enrolling the child and at the time of discharge.Measurements And Main ResultsThirty-two children were enrolled, of whom 29 had features of critical illness polyneuropathy on evaluation at day 8 of mechanical ventilation (prevalence, 90.6% [95% CI, 80.5-100%]). The polyneuropathy was axonal in 26 (81.2%), mixed in one patient (3.1%), and uncharacterized in two (6.2%). Sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction were present in 31 subjects (96.9%). No risk factors for critical illness polyneuropathy could be identified although the study was not sufficiently powered to do so. The difference between serum micronutrient levels (copper, zinc, folate, and vitamin B12) between patients who developed polyneuropathy, and those who did not, was statistically insignificant.ConclusionsWe observed a high prevalence of critical illness polyneuropathy in children in PICU, mechanically ventilated for 7 days or more; almost all of whom had underlying sepsis.

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