Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · May 2014
Pediatric Liver Lacerations and Intensive Care: Evaluation of ICU Triage Strategies.
To compare PICU admission criteria following blunt traumatic liver laceration based on CT grade and/or physiologic instability with actual practice to improve efficiency of ICU admission. ⋯ Children with isolated abdominal injury and no physiologic instability can generally be treated without ICU admission. Adding grade more than or equal to 4 to usual ICU admission criteria resulted in excessive admission of stable patients.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · May 2014
Transthoracic Echocardiography in Pediatric Intensive Care: Impact on Medical and Surgical Management.
Although transthoracic echocardiography is commonly performed in the PICU, its utility is not specifically known. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the clinical impact of echocardiography in the PICU in terms of frequency of unanticipated findings and the frequency and nature of clinical management changes attributed to the results of echocardiography. ⋯ Unanticipated echocardiography results are common in the PICU, and they often alter the clinical impressions that prompted the echocardiogram or introduce new findings unrelated to the reason for which the echocardiogram was recorded. Clinical management changes attributable to echocardiography findings are frequent in the PICU, including occasional surgical intervention. Echocardiography adds diagnostic value and contributes to the management approach in the PICU, accounting for its frequent use.