Peri-extubation practices and extubation failure in a South African tertiary paediatric intensive care unit

Objectives To describe the peri-extubation practices in a South African paediatric intensive care unit and to determine the prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of extubation failure. Design Prospective observational study. Setting A multi-disciplinary paediatric intensive care unit in Cape Town, South Africa. Patients All intubated and ventilated patients between May and September 2017. Interventions There were no research- related interventions Measurements and Main Results Extubation failure was defined as requiring re-intubation within 48 hours of planned extubation. Two hundred and sixteen intubations in 204 children, with a median age of 8 months (IQR 1.6 – 44.4) and median PIM3 risk of mortality score 0.03 (IQR 0.01 – 0.07) were included. There were 184 planned extubations; 21 (10.3%) patients died before extubation; two (1%) had tracheostomies; two (1%) were transferred intubated and seven (3.4%) had ventilation withdrawn. Non-invasive ventilation was implemented in 97 cases (52.7%) after planned extubation. There were 21 (11.4%) failed extubations. Indications for re-intubation were: upper airway obstruction (n=7; 33.3%); respiratory failure (n=4; 19.0%); heart failure (n=3; 14.3%); diaphragm paralysis, hypoventilation and cardiac arrest (n=2; 9.5% each); and reduced level of consciousness (n=1; 4.8%). Prematurity (adjusted OR 1.8 (95% CI 0.05 – 0.6); p =0.004), dysmorphology (OR 1.8 (95% CI 0.05 – 0.6); p=0.022), decreased level of consciousness (OR 4.8 (95% CI 1.96 – 11.7); p=0.001) and ventilation ≥48 hours (OR 0.2 (95% CI 0.05 – 0.7); p = 0.003) were independently associated with extubation failure on multivariate analysis. Children who failed extubation had longer duration of ventilation (median 231 versus 53 hours; p < 0.0001), PICU length of stay (median 15 versus 5 days; p < 0.0001) and hospital length of stay (32 versus 15 days; p=0.009); and higher mortality (28.6% versus 6.7%; p = 0.001) compared to those successfully extubated. Conclusion Extubation failure is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Independent risk factors of extubation failure identified in our context were prematurity, dysmorphology, impaired consciousness and ventilation for more than 48 hours

Cystic Fibrosis in two Ghanaian Children

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a severe life-limiting genetic disorder resulting from mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator gene and is reported to be more prevalent among Caucasians than people of African descent. The past three decades have seen a gradual increase in the reporting of CF in non-European populations with CF in all regions including Africa. We report on the first two known Ghanaian children diagnosed with CF presenting early in infancy. The first patient presented with severe acute malnutrition and persistent diarrhea resulting from severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. In the second patient, there were recurrent wheeze and recurrent pneumonia, severe dehydration with metabolic alkalosis. Diagnosis of CF in Ghana is challenging due to the absence of diagnostic tools such as sweat testing equipment. In the first patient, sweat testing and genetic testing were done in South Africa. In the second patient, sweat testing was not done but diagnosis was confirmed by genetic testing. Both patients presented with classical CF symptoms including Pseudomonas aeruginosa airway infection before age 6 months. Both children are currently alive and healthy on appropriate treatment. These case reports highlight the growing evidence of CF occurring in people of African descent and the diagnostic challenges faced in Africa