ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The benefits of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) have been clearly demonstrated in pediatrics. In palliative care, NIV can improve the level of comfort and quality of life and can decrease dyspnea. The objective was to survey pediatricians' opinions and practices regarding NIV in palliative care in France. DESIGN: A mail survey was conducted among pediatric pneumologists, intensivists and palliative medicine consultants from February 2015 to March 2015. RESULTS: In case of acute respiratory failure, 84% of the responding practitioners found NIV appropriate in do-not-intubate (DNI) children, while only 35% of them found it appropriate in comfort-measures-only (CMO) children (P<0.0001). In case of progressive respiratory failure, 68% of the responders found NIV appropriate in DNI children, while only 30% in CMO children (P<0.05). The major criterion for initiating NIV in pediatric palliative care was the presence of dyspnea. In pediatric palliative care, the efficacy of NIV was evaluated primarily clinically in terms of the improvement of the child's comfort level, as well as the child's and family's satisfaction. Hypercapnia and desaturation were rarely measured to initiate NIV or to assess its efficacy. Sixty percent of the responding practitioners indicated that referral to NIV was anticipated with children and family before acute events or end-of-life occurred. CONCLUSION: French pediatricians habitually use NIV for management of acute or progressive respiratory symptoms in DNI children. In CMO children, a majority of responding practitioners find NIV inappropriate. In palliative care, the indications for and efficacy of NIV are evaluated based on clinical criteria and rarely on gasometric criteria.
Subject(s)
Noninvasive Ventilation , Palliative Care , Academic Medical Centers , Child , France , Hospitals, Pediatric , Humans , Noninvasive Ventilation/methods , Respiratory Insufficiency/therapy , Retrospective Studies , Surveys and Questionnaires , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency and severity of airway compression due to congenital heart disease in children and validate the use of the fiberoptic bronchoscope to assess them. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: A single-institutional study in a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two children with congenital heart disease. INTERVENTIONS: Airway endoscopy was performed in an awake child in cases of clinical and/or radiologic respiratory signs or in cases of preoperative assessment of a cardiac abnormality that is known to accompany airway compression. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Endoscopy was well tolerated; 71% of the children had endoscopic abnormalities and 50% had airway compression. The locations of these compressions are the same as those described in the literature in the cases of vascular rings and left-to-right shunts. The other endoscopic findings were laryngeal and bronchial abnormalities, tracheobronchial malacia, respiratory signs of gastroesophageal reflux, and positive bacteriologic sputum samples. CONCLUSION: Endoscopy in an awake patient is the only way to evaluate the functional component of a compression due to malacia; the resulting collapse of the airway can cause trapping of air and secretions. Furthermore, fiberoptic bronchoscopy offers a complete examination of the airways and can help detect airway abnormalities that are potential causes of complications. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy is a suitable and well-tolerated examination that is easy to perform at the bedside of the child. This technique optimizes the preoperative assessment of children with congenital heart disease.
Subject(s)
Airway Obstruction/diagnosis , Bronchial Diseases/diagnosis , Bronchoscopy , Heart Defects, Congenital/complications , Adolescent , Airway Obstruction/etiology , Bronchial Diseases/etiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Fiber Optic Technology , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
The shaken baby syndrome is a relatively recent concept concerning mishandled children and characterized by cerebral lesions (subarachnoid haemorrhage, oedema, axonal injuries). A case is reported of a 11-month-old female infant, who was admitted in a paediatric intensive care unit with clinical signs of brain death after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The CT scan showed subdural haemorrhage. Pathological examination confirmed the major blunt head trauma. The father admitted that he had shaken his daughter as "she cried too often". The mechanism of the lesions is a combination of several factors, especially the large size of infant's head and the weakness of the neck muscles. It is possible to recognize still in the perinatal period children at risk of mishandling, allowing an efficient prevention of the shaken baby syndrome.
Subject(s)
Battered Child Syndrome , Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/etiology , Brain/diagnostic imaging , Fatal Outcome , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Premature , Subarachnoid Hemorrhage/diagnosis , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
A 74-year-old man developed bilateral arterial thrombosis of the lower limbs related to heparin-associated thrombocytopenia syndrome (HATS). On day 4 after thrombectomy of both limbs, abdominal pain, fever, hypotension, abdominal tenderness appeared. Acute acalculous cholecystitis was suspected and cholecystectomy was carried out although the gallbladder was not imflamed. Later on, hyponatremia in addition to the aforesaid signs suggested the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency. Diagnosis was confirmed by low cortisol and aldosterone plasma concentration and by CT scan, which showen two enlarged adrenal glands. HATS might explain two unexpected facts: occurrence of adrenal hemorrhage during heparin therapy with coagulation tests within the therapeutic range and paradoxical thrombosis in the central vein of adrenal gland. HATS must be regarded as one cause of adrenal hemorrhage necrosis.
Subject(s)
Adrenal Gland Diseases/etiology , Hemorrhage/etiology , Heparin/adverse effects , Thrombocytopenia/complications , Aged , Humans , Male , Syndrome , Thrombocytopenia/chemically inducedABSTRACT
Midazolam presents the properties of a good premedication because of its sedative and anxiolytic activity. The aim of this study, concerning 84 children, was to compare the efficacy of midazolam according to the three ways of administration: intrarectal, oral and intranasal, in reference to a group without premedication. Results have shown the superiority of intrarectal midazolam at the dose of 0.35 mg.kg-1 30 minutes before surgery. The tolerance of this way of administration is excellent and it allows a greater sedative activity compared to the control group and to the intranasal group.
Subject(s)
Midazolam/administration & dosage , Preanesthetic Medication , Administration, Intranasal , Administration, Oral , Administration, Rectal , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Prospective Studies , Surgical Procedures, OperativeABSTRACT
The results of the association propofol fentanyl on the velocity of the middle cerebral artery were studied by means of a transcranial doppler on twenty ASA I patients without any intracranial pathology. Anaesthesia induction by propofol (2.5 mg.kg-1) and fentanyl (2 micrograms.kg-1) induced a significant fall of average velocities (p: 0.0001) and an increase of the resistance index (p: 0.0001) without any associated variation of mean blood pressure and CO2 expiratory fraction. These results corroborate the variations of cerebral blood flow and cerebral vascular resistances reported in the literature and give evidence, in all probability, of a cerebral autoregulation phenomenon.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia, General , Cerebral Arteries/diagnostic imaging , Cerebrovascular Circulation/drug effects , Fentanyl , Propofol , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Orthopedics , Ultrasonics , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
Acute renal failure after viper bite is rare in France. We describe a case in a 3 years-old child, treated with peritoneal dialysis. The physiopathology and the methods of treatment are discussed.
