Objective: This paper will discuss the specific withdrawal symptoms in long term sedation of pediatric intensive care patients, the selection of medication and the special care which these pediatric patients require. Result: The patients of a pediatric intensive care unit are often postoperative, seriously traumatized, or in a lifethreatening circulatory situation, therefore ventilation, analge...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the impact of patient type on costs incurred during a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) hospitalization. PATIENTS AND METHODS Retrospective cohort study at an academic PICU located in the United States that examined 850 patients admitted to the PICU from January 1 to December 31, 2009. Forty-eight patients were excluded due to lack of financial data. Primary service w...

Even today, in 2011, pediatric intensive care medicine can be regarded as a ‘‘new’’ specialty with a promising future. No more than three decades have passed from the start of the development of specific techniques for vital signs support and control in children and the establishment of differentiated wards for such patients, to structuring of the discipline as such. However, in this period of ...

Objective: Long term use of opioids and benzodiazepines are associated with important untoward effects. The α2 adrenergic agonist clonidine has sedative effects. Our goal was to study clonidine addition to total doses of fentanyl and midazolam and duration of ventilation in pediatric ICU (PICU). Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in PICU of Mofi...

This issue and the following issue (Volume 57, Number 2) of The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine are a compilation of papers dealing with diagnosis and management problems in pediatric intensive care. The number of contributors, as well as their varied backgrounds, provides a glimpse of the efforts involved in intensive care for children outside the newborn period. Pediatric intensive care ...

Objective: Long term use of opioids and benzodiazepines are associated with important untoward effects. The α2 adrenergic agonist clonidine has sedative effects. Our goal was to study clonidine addition to total doses of fentanyl and midazolam and duration of ventilation in pediatric ICU (PICU). Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted in PICU of Mofi...

The concepts of medical futility and rationing are often misunderstood and lead to significant consternation when resources are stretched and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds are unavailable. While the two concepts overlap, each has its own distinct application and moral justification. Most importantly, we should avoid using one to justify the other. Bioethics professionals should assi...

Parents of children in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) have many needs and stressors, but research has yet to examine their experience of their child's transfer from PICU to the hospital ward. Ten parents were interviewed following transfer from PICU to a hospital ward at a children's hospital in Canada. Parents' experience involved a search for comfort through transitions. The themes we...