Towards developing an ethical framework for decision making in long-term ventilation in children.

The use of long-term ventilation (LTV) in children is growing in the UK and worldwide. This reflects the improvement in technology to provide LTV, the growing number of indications in which it can be successfully delivered and the acceptability of LTV to families and children. In this article, we discuss the various considerations to be made when deciding to initiate or continue LTV, describe the process that should be followed, as decided by a consensus of experienced physicians, and outline the options available for resolution of conflict around LTV decision making. We recognise the uncertainty and hope provided by novel and evolving therapies for potential disease modification. This raises the question of whether LTV should be offered to allow time for a therapy to be trialled, or whether the therapy is so unlikely to be effective, LTV would simply prolong suffering. We put this consensus view forward as an ethical framework for decision making in children requiring LTV.

Pulmonary vasodilator therapy and early postoperative outcome after modified Fontan operation.

Although mortality is low after the modified Fontan procedure, there is a significant percentage of patients with prolonged postoperative recovery. The objective of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of postoperative administration of oral sildenafil and inhaled nitric oxide on early postoperative outcome. A prospective interventional and comparison study with a historical cohort was conducted. Between January, 2010 and March, 2013, 16 patients received oral sildenafil during immediate modified Fontan postoperative period. Inhaled nitric oxide was also administered if the patient was kept intubated 12 hours after surgery. Early postoperative outcome was compared with a historical cohort of 32 patients on whom the modified Fontan procedure was performed between March, 2000 and December, 2009. Postoperative administration of sildenafil and nitric oxide had no influence on early postoperative outcome after the modified Fontan procedure in terms of duration of pleural effusions, mechanical ventilation time, length of stay in the ICU, and length of hospital stay.

C. albicans, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis invasive infections in the PICU: clinical features, prognosis and mortality / Infección invasiva por C. albicans, C. parapsilosis y C. tropicalis en la UCI pediátrica: características clínicas, pronóstico y mortalidad

Candida albicans remains the most common agent associated with invasive Candida infection (ICI), but with increasing number of non-albicans species. An epidemiological, observational study exploring host criteria, clinical characteristics and mortality of ICI was performed in 24 pediatric intensive care units (PICU) in Spain. Patients were analyzed in global and distributed by infecting species (for groups with ≥15 patients). A total of 125 ICI were included: 47 by C. albicans, 37 by C. parapsilosis, 19 by C. tropicalis, 4 C. glabrata, and 18 others. Up to 66% of ICI by C. albicans and 75.7% by C. parapsilosis occurred in children ≤24 months, while the percentage of children >60 months was higher in ICI by C. tropicalis. Bloodstream infection was most common among C. tropicalis (78.9%) or C. parapsilosis (83.8%) ICI, but urinary infections were almost as common as bloodstream infections among C. albicans ICI (31.9% and 38.3%, respectively). Fever refractory to antimicrobials was the most frequent host criterion (46.4% patients), but with equal frequency than prolonged neutropenia in C. tropicalis ICI. Thrombopenia was more frequent (p<0.05) in C. parapsilosis (60.7%) or C. tropicalis (66.7%) ICI than in C. albicans ICI (26.5%). Uremia was more frequent (p<0.05) in C. albicans (78.3%) or C. tropicalis (73.3%) than in C. parapsilosis ICI (40.7%). Multiple organ failure and heart insufficiency was higher in C. tropicalis ICI. Short duration (≤7 days) of PICU stay was more frequent in C. albicans ICI. Mortality rates were: 8.5% (C. albicans ICI), 13.5% (C. parapsilosis ICI) and 23.3% (C. tropicalis ICI) (Au)

Candida albicans es el agente más frecuentemente asociado con candidiasis invasiva, pero con un número creciente de casos causados por especies no-albicans. Se realizó un estudio epidemiológico observacional explorando criterios del huésped, características clínicas y mortalidad en 24 unidades de cuidados intensivos pediátricas en España. Se analizó a los pacientes en conjunto y distribuidos por la especie infectante (para aquellos grupos con ≥15 pacientes). Se incluyó un total de 125 candidiasis invasivas: 47 por C. albicans, 37 por C. parapsilosis, 19 por C. tropicalis, 4 por C. glabrata, y 18 casos por otras especies. Hasta un 66% de las candidiasis invasivas por C. albicans y un 75,7% de las causadas por C. parapsilosis ocurrieron en niños ≤24 meses, mientras que el porcentaje de niños con >60 meses fue mayor en el grupo de candidiasis invasiva por C. tropicalis. La candidemia fue la infección más frecuente en el grupo de infecciones por C. tropicalis (78,9%) o C. parapsilosis (83,8%), pero las infecciones del tracto urinario fueron tan frecuentes como la bacteremia entre las infecciones por C. albicans (31,9% y 38,3%, respectivamente). La fiebre refractaria a antimicrobianos fue el criterio de huésped más frecuente (46,4% pacientes), pero con igual frecuencia que la neutropenia prolongada en la candidiasis invasiva por C. tropicalis. La trombopenia fue más frecuente (p<0,05) en las infecciones por C. parapsilosis (60,7%) o C. tropicalis (66,7%) que en las producidas por C. albicans (26,5%). La uremia fue más frecuente (p<0,05) en las infecciones por C. albicans (78,3%) o C .tropicalis (73,3%) que en las producidas por C. parapsilosis (40,7%). El fallo multiorgánico y la insuficiencia cardiaca fueron más frecuentes en el grupo de infecciones por C. tropicalis. La estancia corta (≤7 días) en la unidad fue más frecuente en el caso de infecciones por C.albicans. Las tasas de mortalidad fueron: 8,5% (C. albicans), 13,5% (C. parapsilosis) y 23,3% (C. tropicalis). El análisis de la candidiasis invasiva por las distintas especies de Candida mostró perfiles clínicos diferentes y distintas tasas de mortalidad, haciendo esencial la identificación a nivel especie (AU)

Impact of an intervention to reduce prescribing errors in a pediatric intensive care unit.

PURPOSE: To identify and reduce medication prescribing errors in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) by means of an educational program designed to improve medical prescriptions. METHODS: Before-after interventional study in a tertiary-level PICU. Handwritten prescriptions were prospectively collected: 2,228 during period 1 and 1,791 during period 2. In both periods elements of good prescribing practice including error indicators and quality indicators were studied. The interventional program included four measures: standardization of prescription sources, pocket tables with dosing guidelines, an updated prescription protocol, and an educational program on correct prescribing. RESULTS: The prescribing error (PE) rate decreased from 34.2 to 21.7 % after the intervention. Lack of administration route was considered separately for its high prevalence, 30 and 20.8 % of prescriptions, respectively. The most frequent error was presence of some illegible element (59 %). Legibility was the element of prescription experiencing the greatest reduction in error rate, from 4.1 % of prescriptions with one or more illegible elements in period 1 to 0.2 % in period 2. Tenfold overdosage decreased from two cases in period 1 to one case in period 2. The attending physician and on-call physician were associated with more PEs in both periods. The number of prescriptions with two or more errors decreased from 3.1 to 0.7 %. Errors reaching the patient were scarce, 14 (0.63 %) in period 1 and 6 (0.34 %) in period 2, without adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of an educational program for physicians may significantly reduce the prescribing error rate in a PICU.