The longitudinal course of pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome and its time to resolution: A prospective

Judith Ju Ming Wong1,2, Herng Lee Tan1, Rehena Sultana3

  • 1Children's Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pediatric Subspecialties, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.

Frontiers in Pediatrics
|December 9, 2022
PubMed

Insights

The time to resolution of pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) increases with disease severity. This respiratory-specific outcome, T_res, correlates with longer mechanical ventilation and hospital stays, offering a new metric for PARDS assessment.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric critical care medicine
  • Respiratory medicine
  • Clinical outcomes research

Background:

  • The longitudinal course and short-term outcomes of pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) require further elucidation.
  • Oxygenation indices like OI and OSI are crucial for assessing PARDS severity.
  • Understanding factors influencing PARDS resolution is vital for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the oxygenation index (OI) and oxygen saturation index (OSI) in mild, moderate, and severe PARDS over 28 days.
  • To provide pilot data on the time to resolution of PARDS (T_res) as a short-term respiratory-specific outcome.
  • To hypothesize and analyze the association of T_res with PARDS severity and clinical outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective observational study of 121 children with PARDS.
  • Daily trending of OI and OSI for 28 days.
  • Analysis of T_res (defined by OI/OSI thresholds) and its association with mechanical ventilation duration, ICU/hospital length of stay, and ventilator/ICU-free days.

Main Results:

  • OI and OSI differentiated PARDS severity in the first 7 days, but this distinction diminished thereafter.
  • Median T_res was significantly longer in severe PARDS (7.5 days) compared to moderate (5 days) and mild (4 days) PARDS (p<0.001).
  • Increased T_res was associated with longer mechanical ventilation, ICU, and hospital stays, and fewer ventilator/ICU-free days.

Conclusions:

  • The duration of oxygenation defects in PARDS progressively increases with disease severity.
  • Time to resolution (T_res) serves as a potential short-term, respiratory-specific outcome measure for PARDS.
  • Further validation of T_res in external cohorts is warranted to complement conventional clinical outcomes.
Abstract

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