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[The evolution of care for the critical child: pediatric intensive care]
L Chiandetti1, A Pettenazzo, P Biban
1Dipartimento di Pediatria, Università di Padova, Italia.
Insights
The first pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Italy offers specialized care for critically ill children. This study evaluates its initial 5-year experience and patient outcomes using the Pediatric Risk of Mortality score.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Intensive care unit management
- Healthcare system development
Context:
- Critically ill children in Italy often receive care in adult ICUs lacking specialized pediatric training.
- Pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) are crucial for providing age-appropriate intensive care.
- The University of Padua established Italy's first multidisciplinary PICU.
Purpose:
- To report the initial 5-year experience of a novel multidisciplinary pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Italy.
- To analyze the characteristics of the PICU and its patient population.
- To evaluate patient outcomes using the Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) score.
Summary:
- This report details the first 5-year operational experience of the University of Padua's multidisciplinary PICU.
- The study focuses on the unit's characteristics, patient demographics, and treatment outcomes.
- The Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) score was utilized for outcome assessment.
Impact:
- Highlights the need for specialized pediatric intensive care services in Italy.
- Provides data on the effectiveness and patient outcomes in a newly established PICU.
- Offers insights into the management and evaluation of critically ill children in a non-North American setting.
Abstract:
Pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) have been developed to provide intensive care for children between post-neonatal age and adolescence. These units have largely been developed in North America, mainly in tertiary hospitals. In Italy, critically ill children are still often nursed on adult ICU's, where medical and nursing staff often lack pediatric training. Here we report the first 5-year experience of the multidisciplinary PICU developed at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Padua, focusing on PICU and patients characteristics, as well as on the evaluation of outcome by means of the Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) score.