Infant Intensive Care Unit: Is it Time to Change?

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
• Neonatology
• Public Health

Background:

• Critically ill infants require specialized care.
• The establishment of an Infant Intensive Care Unit (InICU) in 2016 aimed to address this need.
• Comparing InICU outcomes with existing Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) is crucial for evaluating its effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a dedicated Infant Intensive Care Unit (InICU) on infant mortality.
• To compare mortality rates between the InICU and general Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cross-sectional study design.
• Two groups of expired patients (1 month to 2 years) were compared: those admitted to PICU before InICU establishment and age-matched patients admitted to InICU.
• Data collected via questionnaire, including demographics, diagnoses, and length of stay.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in age, sex, underlying diseases, cause of admission, time of death, or length of stay between groups.
• The InICU group had a significantly lower mortality incidence (6.37 per 1000 person-months) compared to the PICU group (10.66 per 1000 person-months).
• The relative risk of mortality was 1.67 times higher in the PICU group compared to the InICU group (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• The establishment of an age-specific Infant Intensive Care Unit (InICU) is associated with reduced infant mortality.
• Specialized care in an InICU may be beneficial for critically ill infants.
• Findings support the development of dedicated infant intensive care services.