Implementation of an Innovative Palliative Care Screening Tool in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Pilot Study.

Background: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) can improve the quality of care provided to critically ill children with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Early identification of patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) who may benefit from PPC involvement is essential. Objectives: To create a brief screening tool, the Pediatric Intensive Care-Pediatric Palliative Care Screen, identifying PICU patients most likely to benefit from PPC involvement and to assess if weekly screening with this screening tool increases the number of PPC consults placed in the PICU. Methods: This is a prospective investigational single-center study in a 24-bed PICU at a U.S. tertiary care children's hospital. Weekly screening was completed by two clinicians for a six-month period between April and October 2022. Results: A total of 162 screens were completed on 124 individual patients; 47 screens were positive (29%), and 115 were negative (71%). Fourteen new PPC consults were placed from the PICU with one PPC consult for every 36.7 compared with one PPC for every 41.4 admissions the previous year. Of the positive screens, 68% had two or more comorbidities at the time of PICU admission versus 26% of negative screens (p < 0.001). Technology dependence (57% vs. 5%, p < 0.001) and presence of congenital defects (26% vs. 10%, p = 0.013) were significantly more common among positive screens. Conclusions: Weekly screening with a short, 7-question screening tool can identify PICU patients most likely to benefit from a PPC consult. Patients with chronic illnesses and baseline comorbidities are most likely to screen positive.

Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism in a Pediatric Cardiac ICU: A Multivariable Predictive Algorithm to Identify Children at High Risk.

OBJECTIVES: Critically ill children with cardiac disease are at significant risk for hospital-associated venous thromboembolism, which is associated with increased morbidity, hospital length of stay, and cost. Currently, there are no widely accepted guidelines for prevention of hospital-associated venous thromboembolism in pediatrics. We aimed to develop a predictive algorithm for identifying critically ill children with cardiac disease who are at increased risk for hospital-associated venous thromboembolism as a first step to reducing hospital-associated venous thromboembolism in this population. DESIGN: This is a prospective observational single-center study. SETTING: Tertiary care referral children's hospital cardiac ICU. PATIENTS: Children less than or equal to18 years old admitted to the cardiac ICU who developed a hospital-associated venous thromboembolism from December 2013 to June 2017 were included. Odds ratios and 95% CIs are reported for multivariable predictors. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 2,204 separate cardiac ICU encounters were evaluated with 56 hospital-associated venous thromboembolisms identified in 52 unique patients, yielding an overall prevalence of 25 hospital-associated venous thromboembolism per 1,000 cardiac ICU encounters. We were able to create a predictive algorithm with good internal validity that performs well at predicting hospital-associated venous thromboembolism. The presence of a central venous catheter (odds ratio, 4.76; 95% CI, 2.0-11.1), sepsis (odds ratio, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5-8.0), single ventricle disease (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-3.9), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.2-5.7) were independent risk factors for hospital-associated venous thromboembolism. Encounters with hospital-associated venous thromboembolism were associated with a higher rate of stroke (17% vs 1.2%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We developed a multivariable predictive algorithm to help identify children who may be at high risk of hospital-associated venous thromboembolism in the pediatric cardiac ICU.

Platelets and platelet extracellular vesicles in hemostasis and sepsis.

Platelets, cell fragments traditionally thought of as important only for hemostasis, substantially and dynamically contribute to the immune system's response to infection. In addition, there is increasing evidence that externally active platelet entities, including platelet granules and platelet extracellular vesicles (PEVs), play a role not only in hemostasis, but also in inflammatory actions previously ascribed to platelets themselves. Given the functions of platelets and PEVs during inflammation and infection, their role in sepsis is being investigated. Sepsis is a condition marked by the dysregulation of the body's normal activation of the immune system in response to a pathogen. The mechanisms for controlling infection locally become detrimental to the host if they are applied systemically. Similar to cells traditionally ascribed to the immune system, including neutrophils, lymphocytes, and macrophages, platelets are instrumental in helping a host clear an infection, but are also implicated in the uncontrolled amplification of the immune response that leads to sepsis. Clearly, the function of platelets is more complicated than its simple structure and primary role in hemostasis initially suggest. This review provides an overview of platelet and platelet extracellular vesicle structure and function, highlighting the complex role platelets and PEVs play in the body in the context of infection and sepsis.