Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2007
ReviewEffect of fatigue, workload, and environment on patient safety in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Pediatric intensive care unit patient care occurs in an unpredictable, technology-rich environment that is dependent on highly skilled providers who need constant communication-all features providing the setting for potential error. This review examines basic principles of human error and sleep physiology and evaluates the evidence for potential effects of fatigued healthcare workers and workload on medical error. BODY: The pediatric intensive care unit setting, examined from a human factors engineering standpoint, is a highly complex environment in which fatigue and excessive workload can provide potential "holes" that may allow errors to occur. A large body of evidence is examined that suggests sleep deprivation can impair medical and surgical performance and can be improved with scheduling intervention. Nursing fatigue and workload have documented effects on increasing intensive care unit error, infections, and cost. Specific environmental factors such as distractions and communication barriers are also associated with greater error. ⋯ Fatigue, excessive workload, and the pediatric intensive care unit environment can adversely affect the performance of physicians and nurses working in the pediatric intensive care unit. The weight of the evidence suggests that these factors have the potential to contribute to medical error in the pediatric intensive care unit.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2007
CommentDo pediatric patients with septic shock benefit from steroid therapy? A critical appraisal of "Low-dose hydrocortisone improves shock reversal and reduces cytokine levels in early hyperdynamic septic shock" by Oppert et al. (Crit Care Med 2005; 33:2457-2464).
To review the findings and discuss the implications of studies on the use of low-dose corticosteroids in septic shock. ⋯ There is some, albeit limited, evidence for the benefit of low-dose steroids in adults with sepsis. No supporting data are available for the pediatric population; therefore, a randomized controlled trial in septic children is needed.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2007
Comparative StudyEndotracheal intubation and pediatric status asthmaticus: site of original care affects treatment.
Status asthmaticus is a common cause of admission to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Children unresponsive to medical therapies may require endotracheal intubation; however, this treatment carries significant risk, and thresholds for intubation vary. Our hypothesis was that children who sought care at community hospitals received less aggressive treatment and more frequent intubation than children who sought care at a children's hospital. ⋯ Children with status asthmaticus are more likely to be intubated, and intubated sooner, at a community hospital. The shorter duration of intubation suggests that some children may not have been intubated had they presented to a children's hospital or received more aggressive therapy at their community hospital.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2007
Case ReportsMassive ibuprofen overdose requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for cardiovascular support.
Ibuprofen is rarely associated with severe toxicity. We report a massive ibuprofen overdose that resulted in refractory hypotension requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for cardiovascular support. ⋯ Although ibuprofen overdose typically has few consequences, severe hypotension, renal failure, and gastrointestinal bleeding can occur. We report the first known case of successful ECMO therapy for ibuprofen overdose.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Mar 2007
Analysis of the evidence for the lower limit of systolic and mean arterial pressure in children.
Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) are essential evaluation elements in ill children, but there is wide variation among different sources defining systolic hypotension in children, and there are no normal reference values for MAP. Our goal was to calculate the 5th percentile SBP and MAP values in children from recently updated data published by the task force working group of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program and compare these values with the lowest limit of acceptable SBP and MAP defined by different sources. ⋯ We developed new estimates for values of 5th percentile SBP and created a table of normal MAP values for reference. SBP is significantly affected by height, which has not been considered previously. Although the estimated lower limits of SBP are lower than currently used to define hypotension, these values are derived from normal healthy children and are likely not appropriate for critically ill children. Our data suggest that the current values for hypotension are not evidence-based and may need to be adjusted for patient height and, most important, for clinical condition. Specifically, we suggest that the definition of hypotension derived from normal children should not be used to define the SBP goal; a higher target SBP is likely appropriate in many critically ill and injured children. Further studies are needed to evaluate the appropriate threshold values of SBP for determining hypotension.