Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2008
Correlation of abdominal site near-infrared spectroscopy with gastric tonometry in infants following surgery for congenital heart disease.
Splanchnic oximetry, as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), correlates with gastric tonometry as a means of assessing regional (splanchnic) oxygenation and perfusion. ⋯ Abdominal site rSO2, measured in infants with either single or biventricular physiology, exhibits a strong correlation with gastric pHi as well as with serum lactate and SVO2. The results indicate that rSO2 measurements over the anterior abdominal wall correlate more strongly than flank rSO2 with regard to systemic indices of oxygenation and perfusion. This study suggests that the NIRS monitor is a valid modality to obtain an easy, immediate, and noninvasive measurement of splanchnic rSO2 in infants following cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2008
Parents' perspectives on physician-parent communication near the time of a child's death in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Communicating bad news about a child's illness is a difficult task commonly faced by intensive care physicians. Greater understanding of parents' scope of experiences with bad news during their child's hospitalization will help physicians communicate more effectively. Our objective is to describe parents' perceptions of their conversations with physicians regarding their child's terminal illness and death in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). ⋯ The way bad news is discussed by physicians is extremely important to most parents. Parents want physicians to be accessible and to provide honest and complete information with a caring affect, using lay language, and at a pace in accordance with their ability to comprehend. Withholding prognostic information from parents often leads to false hopes and feelings of anger, betrayal, and distrust. Future research is needed to investigate whether the way bad news is discussed influences psychological adjustment and family functioning among bereaved parents.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2008
Do outcomes vary according to the source of admission to the pediatric intensive care unit?
To examine associations between mortality, length of stay, and the sources of admission to tertiary pediatric intensive care. ⋯ Outcomes of tertiary pediatric intensive care vary significantly by source of admission. Strategies aimed at reduction of mortality at the tertiary PICU should target transfer admissions from the hospital's wards and from PICUs of other hospitals.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2008
Reduction of catheter-associated bloodstream infections in pediatric patients: experimentation and reality.
Few data exist on successes at reducing pediatric catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CA-BSI). The objective was to eradicate CA-BSI with a multifaceted pediatric-relevant intervention proven effective in adult patients. ⋯ Our data show that improving practices for insertion of central catheters leads to a reduction of CA-BSI among pediatric patients but not elimination of CA-BSI. More research is needed to identify best practices for maintenance of central catheters for children. In addition, our experience shows that even despite good interventions to control CA-BSI, institutions must remain vigilant to factors such as new technology with apparent advantages but short track records of use.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2008
Candida colonization and candidemia in a pediatric intensive care unit.
To evaluate role of Candida colonization in development of candidemia and to identify risk factors associated with Candida colonization and candidemia in children treated for severe sepsis or septic shock in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for >5 days. ⋯ Monitoring for colonization with Candida species in children undergoing treatment for severe sepsis or sepsis shock in PICU for >5 days may offer opportunity for early intervention for prevention of candidemia.