Improvements in the outcome of children with meningococcal disease

Recent years have seen a marked reduction in the mortality of children with meningococcal disease in paediatric intensive care units (PICU); the reasons for this improvement are multifactorial. The mortality rates for critically ill children overall have improved and reasons for this are probably increased centralisation of PICU services and that fewer critically ill children are now looked after on adult units. Specific treatment pathways for sepsis have improved with the publication of clinical guidelines for children and initiatives such as the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. There is a continuing need to focus on the care delivered to children before reaching PICU and to minimise the morbidity suffered by survivors of this disease

Intraosseous fluid resuscitation in meningococcal disease and lower limb injury

We set out to review the recent incidence of extravasation and compartment syndrome in children with meningococcal disease admitted to our Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) who had been resuscitated with intraosseous (IO) needles. Over a 12-month period, 18 children were admitted to PICU with meningococcal sepsis. Four of these children were resuscitated with IO needles and 2 developed serious complications as a result of extravasation and compartment syndrome. Clinical practice guidelines for children with severe sepsis advocate aggressive early fluid resuscitation therapy. We have identified extravasation and lower limb injury as a potential issue of increasing concern with appropriate aggressive IO fluid resuscitation in severe septic shock in children. Powered IO access systems such as the EZ-IO system offer advantages in terms of placement speed, accuracy and bone entry site profile at minimal extra financial cost

The implausibility of ‘usual care’ in an open system: sedation and weaning practices in Paediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) in the United Kingdom (UK)

Background: The power of the randomised controlled trial depends upon its capacity to operate in a closed system whereby the intervention is the only causal force acting upon the experimental group and absent in the control group, permitting a valid assessment of intervention efficacy. Conversely, clinical arenas are open systems where factors relating to context, resources, interpretation and actions of individuals will affect implementation and effectiveness of interventions. Consequently, the comparator (usual care) can be difficult to define and variable in multi-centre trials. Hence outcomes cannot be understood without considering usual care and factors that may affect implementation and impact on the intervention. Methods: Using a fieldwork approach, we describe PICU context, ‘usual’ practice in sedation and weaning from mechanical ventilation, and factors affecting implementation prior to designing a trial involving a sedation and ventilation weaning intervention. We collected data from 23 UK PICUs between June and November 2014 using observation, individual and multi-disciplinary group interviews with staff. Results: Pain and sedation practices were broadly similar in terms of drug usage and assessment tools. Sedation protocols linking assessment to appropriate titration of sedatives and sedation holds were rarely used (9 % and 4 % of PICUs respectively). Ventilator weaning was primarily a medical-led process with 39 % of PICUs engaging senior nurses in the process: weaning protocols were rarely used (9 % of PICUs). Weaning methods were variably based on clinician preference. No formal criteria or use of spontaneous breathing trials were used to test weaning readiness. Seventeen PICUs (74 %) had prior engagement in multi-centre trials, but limited research nurse availability. Barriers to previous trial implementation were intervention complexity, lack of belief in the evidence and inadequate training. Facilitating factors were senior staff buy-in and dedicated research nurse provision. Conclusions: We examined and identified contextual and organisational factors that may impact on the implementation of our intervention. We found usual practice relating to sedation, analgesia and ventilator weaning broadly similar, yet distinctively different from our proposed intervention, providing assurance in our ability to evaluate intervention effects. The data will enable us to develop an implementation plan; considering these factors we can more fully understand their impact on study outcomes

Withdrawal symptoms in children after long-term administration of sedatives and/or analgesics: A literature review. "Assessment remains troublesome"

Background: Prolonged administration of benzodiazepines and/or opioids to children in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) may induce physiological dependence and withdrawal symptoms. Objective: We reviewed the literature for relevant contributions on the nature of these withdrawal symptoms and on availability of valid scoring systems to assess the extent of symptoms. Methods: The databases PubMed, CINAHL, and Psychinfo (1980-June 2006) were searched using relevant key terms. Results: Symptoms of benzodiazepine and opioid withdrawal can be classified in two groups: central nervous system effects and autonomic dysfunction. However, symptoms of the two types show a large overlap for benzodiazepine and opioid withdrawal. Symptoms of gastrointestinal dysfunction in the PICU population have been described for opioid withdrawal only. Six assessment tools for withdrawal symptoms are used in children. Four of these have been validated for neonates only. Two instruments are available to specifically determine withdrawal symptoms in the PICU: the Sedation Withdrawal Score (SWS) and the Opioid Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Scale (OBWS). The OBWS is the only available assessment tool with prospective validation; however, the sensitivity is low. Conclusions: Withdrawal symptoms for benzodiazepines and opioids largely overlap. A sufficiently sensitive instrument for assessing withdrawal symptoms in PICU patients needs to be developed

Bacterial Causes of Empyema in Children, Australia, 2007–2009

Most infections were caused by non–7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine serotypes