ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In critically ill children, detection of intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH > 10 mmHg) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS = IAH + organ dysfunction) is paramount and usually monitored through intra-vesical pressures (IVP) as current standard. IVP, however, carries important disadvantages, being time-consuming, discontinuous, with infection risk through observer-dependent manipulation, and ill-defined for catheter sizes. Therefore, we sought to validate air-capsule-based measurement of intra-gastric pressure (ACM-IGP). METHODS: We prospectively compared ACM-IGP with IVP both in vivo and in vitro (water column), according to Abdominal-Compartment-Society validation criteria. We controlled for patient age, admission diagnosis, gastric filling/propulsive medication, respiratory status, sedation levels and transurethral catheters, all influencing intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). RESULTS: In tertiary care PICU setting, finally, n = 97 children were enrolled (median age, 1.3 years [range 0 days-17 years], LOS-PICU 8.0 [1-332] days, PRISM-III-Score 13 [0-35]). In n = 2.770 measurements pairs, median IAP was 6.7 [0.9-23.0] mmHg, n = 38 (39%) children suffered from IAH > 10 mmHg, n = 4 from ACS. In vitro against water column, ACM-IGP correlated perfectly (r2 0.99, mean bias - 0.1 ± 0.5 mmHg, limits of agreement (LOA) - 1.1/+ 0.9, percentage error [PE] 12%) as compared with IVP (r2 0.98, bias + 0.7 ± 0.6 mmHg, LOA - 0.5/+ 1.9, PE 15%). With larger IVP catheters at higher pressure levels, IVP underestimated pressures against water column. In vivo, agreement between either technique was strong (r2 0.95, bias 0.3 ± 0.8 mmHg, LOA - 1.3/+ 1.9 mmHg, PE 23%). No impact of predefined control variables on measurement agreement was observed. CONCLUSIONS: In a large PICU population with high IAH prevalence, ACM-IGP agreed favourably with IVP. More widespread usage of ACM-IGP may improve detection rates of ACS in critically ill children. Trial registration WHO-ICTRP-No. DRKS00006556 (German Clinical Trial Register). Registered 12th September 2014, URL: https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00006556.
ABSTRACT
In pediatric patients with acute refractory cardiogenic shock (CS), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) remains an established procedure to maintain adequate organ perfusion. In this context, ECMO can be used as a bridging procedure to recovery, VAD or transplantation. While being supported by ECMO, most centers tend to keep their patients well sedated and supported by invasive ventilation. This may be associated with an increased risk of therapy-related morbidity and mortality. In order to optimize clinical management in pediatric patients with ECMO therapy, we report our strategy of veno-arterial ECMO (VA-ECMO) in extubated awake and conscious patients. We therefore present data of six of our patients with CS, who were treated by ECMO being awake without continuous analgosedation and invasive ventilation. Of these six patients, four were <1 year and two >14 years of age. Median time on ECMO was 17.4 days (range 6.9-94.2 days). Median time extubated, while receiving ECMO support was 9.5 days. Mean time extubated was 78 % of the total time on ECMO. Three patients reached full recovery of cardiac function on "Awake-VA-ECMO," whereas the other three were successfully bridged to destination therapy (VAD, heart transplantation, withdrawal). Four out of our six patients are still alive. Complications related to ECMO therapy (i.e., severe bleeding, site infection or dislocation of cannulas) were not observed. We conclude that "Awake-VA-ECMO" in extubated, spontaneously breathing conscious pediatric patients is feasible and safe for the treatment of acute CS and can be used as a "bridging therapy" to recovery, VAD implantation or transplantation.
