Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Apr 2020
Pharmacotherapy in Critically Ill Children: A Retrospective Review of 17,199 Admissions.
Despite the ubiquitous role of pharmacotherapy in the care of critically ill children, descriptions of the extent of pharmacotherapy in critical illness are limited. Greater understanding of drug therapy can help identify clinically important associations and assist in the prioritization of efforts to address knowledge gaps. The objectives of this study were to describe the diversity, volume, and patterns of pharmacotherapy in critically ill children. ⋯ Drug administration in the ICU is complex, involves many medications, and the potential for drug interaction and reaction is compounded by the volume and diversity of therapies routinely provided in ICU. Further evaluation of polytherapy could be used to improve outcomes and enhance the safety of pharmacotherapy in critically ill children.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Apr 2020
Observational StudyCardiac Dysfunction Identified by Strain Echocardiography Is Associated With Illness Severity in Pediatric Sepsis.
Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction has been associated with illness severity and mortality in pediatrics. Although early sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction diagnosis could aid in hemodynamic management, current echocardiographic metrics for assessing biventricular function are limited in detecting early impairment. Strain echocardiography is a validated quantitative measure that can detect subtle perturbations in left ventricular and right ventricular function. This investigation evaluates the utility of strain echocardiography in pediatric sepsis and compares with to conventional methods. ⋯ Compared with healthy controls, patients with severe sepsis demonstrated abnormal left ventricular strain (left ventricular longitudinal strain: -13.0% ± 0.72; p = 0.04 and left ventricular circumferential strain: -16.5% ± 0.99; p = 0.046) and right ventricular (right ventricular longitudinal strain = -14.3% ± 6.3; p < 0.01) despite normal fractional shortening (36.0% ± 1.6 vs 38.1% ± 1.1; p = 0.5129) and ejection fraction (60.7% ± 2.2 vs 65.3% ± 1.5; p = 0.33). There was significant association between depressed left ventricular longitudinal strain and increased Vasotrope-Inotrope Score (r = 0.52; p = 0.034). Worsening left ventricular circumferential strain was correlated with higher lactate (r = 0.31; p = 0.03) and higher Pediatric Risk of Mortality-III score (r = 0.39; p < 0.01). Depressed right ventricular longitudinal strain was associated with elevated pediatric multiple organ dysfunction score (r = 0.44; p < 0.01) CONCLUSIONS:: Compared with healthy children, pediatric septic patients demonstrated abnormal left ventricular and right ventricular strain concerning for early signs of cardiac dysfunction. This was despite having normal ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Abnormal strain was associated with abnormal severity of illness markers. Strain echocardiography may have utility as an early indicator of sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction in pediatric sepsis.