Articles: pediatrics.
-
Multicenter Study
Impact of acute kidney injury and nephrotoxic exposure on hospital length of stay.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common occurrence among hospitalized children and leads to increased mortality and prolonged length of stay (LOS) in critically ill patients. Few studies have examined the impact of AKI on LOS for common pediatric conditions. We hypothesized that a diagnosis of AKI would be associated with a longer hospital LOS and increased exposure to nephrotoxic medications for all patients. ⋯ Development of AKI was associated with longer hospital length of stay and increased nephrotoxic medication exposure for all diagnostic categories. Non-critically ill children with AKI were hospitalized the same length or longer than critically ill children without AKI.
-
Pediatr Hematol Oncol · Apr 2020
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialClostridium difficile infection in a children's hospital with specific patterns among pediatric oncology and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation populations.
Background: Clostridium difficile (CD) is often classified as a healthcare-associated infection (HAI) and a hospital-acquired condition (HAC) in the hospital setting. However, pediatric oncology patients comprise a significant portion of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI), with hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients constituting a major subset of this group due to unique, non-modifiable risk factors. We evaluated patterns of clostridium difficile infections at our institution to provide an accurate evaluation of the vulnerability of pediatric oncology and HSCT patients to clostridium difficile infections in comparison to the general pediatric population and underscore the non-tenability of classifying clostridium difficile infections as a hospital-acquired condition in HSCT patients. ⋯ Of those, 39.3% had a positive test result and 48.5% of those patients went on to have a subsequent infection that met the criteria to be defined as recurrent. Conclusions: The high incidence rate and frequency of recurrence underscores the current near-inevitable nature of clostridium difficile infections in oncology and HSCT patients. We conclude that a blanket designation of clostridium difficile infections as an hospital-acquired condition is therefore questionable in this population.
-
Editorial Multicenter Study
Mechanical Ventilation in Children on Venovenous ECMO.
Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) is used when mechanical ventilation can no longer support oxygenation or ventilation, or if the risk of ventilator-induced lung injury is considered excessive. The optimum mechanical ventilation strategy once on ECMO is unknown. We sought to describe the practice of mechanical ventilation in children on VV-ECMO and to determine whether mechanical ventilation practices are associated with clinical outcomes. ⋯ Ventilator mode and some settings vary in practice. The only ventilator setting associated with mortality was FIO2 , even after adjustment for disease severity. Ventilator FIO2 is a modifiable setting that may contribute to mortality in children on VV-ECMO.
-
Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 2020
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPediatric anesthesia practice in Italy: a multicenter national prospective observational study derived from the Apricot trial.
Pediatric anesthesia nowadays requires specific knowledge and expertise. The Anesthesia PRactice In Children Observational Trial (APRICOT) was a European multicenter study designed for the identification of perioperative severe critical events and management. We aimed at analyzing the Italian database in an attempt to determine the practice of anesthesia and the incidence of severe critical events in Italy. ⋯ This secondary analysis demonstrates that the incidence of severe critical incidence was lower in Italy in comparison to that reported for Europe. This low rate of critical events may be related to the high expertise and experience of the anesthesiologists in charge of the children in the Italian centres that participated to APRICOT.
-
Palliative medicine · Mar 2020
Multicenter StudyRegret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer: A mixed methods study.
Prior research has demonstrated that the presence of regret and unfinished business is associated with poorer adjustment in bereavement. Though there is a growing literature on these constructs among caregivers of adult patients, the literature on regret and unfinished business in bereaved parents has been limited. ⋯ Findings have implications for how providers work with families, including increasing treatment decision-making support, supporting parents in speaking to their child about illness, and, in bereavement, validating choices made. Grief interventions that use cognitive-behavioral and meaning-centered approaches may be particularly beneficial.