OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency medication error disclosure to the team and to the family in an oncology pediatric patients' intensive care unit. METHODS This was a descriptive and exploratory study performed between March 1 and May 31, 2008. A medication error report form was developed and implemented, to be completed by the professionals involved in the unit's medication process. RESU...

OBJECTIVES We investigated the effect of heliox-powered albuterol therapy on hospital length of stay and clinical status in children with moderate to severe status asthmaticus. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Twenty-five-bed pediatric intensive care unit at an academic children's medical center. PATIENTS Forty-two children (2-21 yrs of age) with moderate ...

BACKGROUND Anemia is prevalent at pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission and incident during PICU stay, but little is known about anemia at PICU discharge . Anemia after critical illness is an important issue because it could impact post-PICU outcome. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemia at PICU discharge and to determine its risk markers. METHODS This is an ancillary study o...

OBJECTIVE To examine determinants of quality of care provided by pediatric emergency departments (PEDs) in tertiary European centers. METHODS Analysis of questionnaires was sent to directors of PEDs. Questionnaires were sent through the pediatric research group of the European Society for Emergency Medicine. Three major descriptive categories were included in a 28-point questionnaire: institu...

Maria A. Hegeman1,2, Marcus J. Schultz1,2, Adrianus J. van Vught3 and Cobi J. Heijnen4 1Laboratory of Experimental Intensive Care and Anesthesiology (LEICA), 2Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, 3Department of Pediatric Intensive Care, 4Laboratory of Neuroimmunology and Developmental Origins of Disease (NIDOD), University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, T...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the medical practices and the end-of-life care provided to children admitted to pediatric intensive care units in different parts of the globe. SOURCES Articles on end-of-life care published during the last 20 years were selected from the PubMed, MEDLINE and LILACS databases, with emphasis on studies of death in pediatric intensive care units in Brazil, Latin America, Eur...

OBJECTIVE Long-stay patients (≥28 days) in pediatric intensive care units consume a disproportionate amount of resources, and very few studies have reported their outcome. We determined the long-term outcome of these children admitted to intensive care over a 20-yr period (January 1, 1989 to December 31, 2008). SETTING Pediatric intensive care unit in a university-affiliated tertiary pediatri...

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common concern for hospitalized children and adults, but knowledge about PU risk factors,prevalence, and incidence rates among children remains limited. To assess the prevalence of and risk factors for PUs in pediatric care settings, a 1-day cross-sectional study was conducted among all hospitalized children ages 0 to 18 years in all 14 pediatric hospitals in the Ger...