What Is Pediatric Critical Care?
A healthcare professional certified or experienced in pediatrics will provide exceptional care to a hospitalized critically injured or ill child. In a hospital, pediatric critical care serves as a subdivision of pediatric care (medical services offered for child patients). Children become unstable under critical conditions. Intensive care will be provided to a child patient with the assistance of a pediatric intensivist or a pediatrician, nurses, and other healthcare specialists. The team may include cardiologists, neurosurgeons, physiotherapists, dieticians, occupational therapists, etc, based on the patient’s needs.
Who Gets Critical Care From a PICU?
A pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) differs from a neonatal intensive care unit or an adult intensive care unit. Since critical child patients will be admitted to a PICU, the area should have access to elevators. In addition, the emergency department, scanning room, and operation theater should also be close to a PICU. It should also have an uninterrupted electricity supply and a power backup facility. Monitors, ventilators, intravenous (IV) equipment, suction, surgical drains, etc. should be installed in a PICU. Some conditions that make children admitted to the pediatric intensive care units (PICU) are:
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Renal Failure: Renal or kidney failure in children can be for many reasons. Hereditary diseases (diseases due to gene alteration), infections, birth defects, trauma, nephrotic syndrome (a group of symptoms along with the excretion of excess protein through urine), urine blockage, etc., are some of them.
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Asthma Attack: Asthma is a lung disease in which the airway is narrowed. Allergic reactions, viral infections, and genetics are the main causes of asthma attacks in children. Severe asthma attacks start with wheezing, severe coughing, or hardness while breathing.
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Injuries: Serious trauma or injury due to accidents can cause severe blood loss and other problems in children. Children are more prone to accidents which may lead to head injuries and associated complications.
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Infections: Infections may lead to conditions like meningitis (bacterial or viral infection leading to the inflammation of the meninges of the brain) or pneumonia (Inflammation of the air sacs of the lungs due to an infection).
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Liver Failure: Liver failure rarely occurs in children. It is a life-threatening condition where the liver stops functioning.
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Cancer: Symptoms of cancer can make a child critically sick.
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Diabetes Complications: Diabetes in children may lead to many complications like increased blood pressure, narrowing of the blood vessels, nerve damage, heart diseases, stroke (decreased blood flow to the brain), etc. Some diabetic complications can be life-threatening for the children and may require critical care.
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Other Acute Conditions: In some cases, hospitalized child patients may get acute infections or other medical complications and get transferred from the general room to the PICU.
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Seizures: Seizures are neurological conditions due to abnormal electrographic activity in the brain. Random eye movements, eye-rolling, and unusual movements or jerking are the main symptoms of seizures.
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Drug Overdose: Accidental ingestion of medicines can cause complications in children. The dosage of the medicine depends on the age and weight of a child. If a child consumes more than recommended doses, he or she may develop signs of drug overdose and requires immediate medical care.
Who Is a Pediatric Intensivist?
A pediatric intensivist is a healthcare professional who treats critically ill children or infants. Based on the condition and symptoms of the affected child, the pediatric intensivist may take help from other specialists to provide the required treatment and care. They will also supervise infant or child patients admitted to a PICU. A general pediatrician needs to take additional coaching to become a pediatric intensivist. Therefore, pediatric critical care specialists are trained to provide special and advanced care to child patients.
What Are the Treatments Provided During Pediatric Critical Care?
The healthcare professionals will provide the following treatment and care services for a child patient in a PICU:
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Initially, they will diagnose the condition by carefully assessing the symptoms of the patient and using the required diagnostic measures. A proper diagnosis is important to stabilize a critically ill patient.
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After the patient’s admission to a PICU, blood tests, CSF tests (the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord), and urine tests may be done for diagnostic purposes. Imaging tests like X-ray, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computed tomography), or ultrasound may also be performed.
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The patient will be provided with required medicines through necessary routes (oral or parenteral). They will also be consistently monitored. Medicines causing severe side effects will only be provided after close monitoring and only when required. Medicines may also be continuously delivered through intravenous route or drips.
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Nurses and other healthcare assistants in the PICU will constantly supervise the patient and observe any unfavorable signs or symptoms or the progression of the patient’s condition.
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Patients with heart, lung, brain, and renal health conditions will be provided with the necessary treatments.
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Kid patients will be attached to monitors to display heart rate and breathing rate. Blood oxygen levels may be monitored using a pulse oximeter.
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Additional assistance will be provided to the child patients with the help of ventilators. The patient may get extra oxygen with the assistance of oxygen masks or tubings attached to the nose. A ventilator is a breathing machine connected to a patient having breathing difficulties. A tracheostomy tube or an endotracheal tube will be used for the purpose. These are artificial airway tubes that are attached to the ventilator on one side and the patient on the other. The patient will be given medications for sedation while using the tubes.
Conclusion:
Pediatric critical care offers treatment and care to critically ill, injured, and unstable infant or child patients. They will be treated by a pediatric intensivist in a PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). A pediatric critical care specialist along with a team of other specialists and nurses diagnose, treats, and monitors the child patient. Some kids will be allowed to go home immediately after discharge from the PICU. At the same time, others will be transferred to the general room for follow-up procedures.
