A survey of current practices in sedation, analgesia, withdrawal, and delirium management in paediatric cardiac ICUs.

OBJECTIVE: To characterise the current approach to sedation, analgesia, iatrogenic withdrawal syndrome and delirium in paediatric cardiac ICUs. DESIGN: A convenience sample survey of practitioners at institutions participating in the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium conducted from September to December 2020. SETTING: Paediatric cardiac ICUs. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Survey responses were received from 33 of 42 institutions contacted. Screening for pain and agitation occurs commonly and frequently. A minority of responding centres (39%) have a written analgesia management protocol/guideline. A minority (42%) of centres have a written protocol for sedation. Screening for withdrawal occurs commonly, although triggers for withdrawal screening vary. Only 42% of respondents have written protocols for withdrawal management. Screening for delirium occurs "always" in 46% of responding centres, "sometimes" in 36% of centres and "never" 18%. Nine participating centres (27%) have written protocols for delirium management. CONCLUSIONS: Our survey identified that most responding paediatric cardiac ICUs lack a standardised approach to the management of analgesia, sedation, iatrogenic withdrawal, and delirium. Screening for pain and agitation occurs regularly, while screening for withdrawal occurs fairly frequently, and screening for delirium is notably less consistent. Only a minority of centres use written protocols or guidelines for the management of these problems. We believe that this represents an opportunity to significantly improve patient care within the paediatric cardiac ICU.

Overcoming patient safety concerns and integrating early mobility into pediatric intensive care unit nursing practice.

PURPOSE: Early Mobilization (EM) in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) is safe, feasible and improves outcomes for PICU patients, yet patient safety concerns persist among nurses which limits EM adoption. The purpose of this study was to explore how nurses incorporate EM into practice and balance their concerns for patient safety with the benefits of EM. DESIGN & METHODS: This focused ethnographic study included 15 in-depth interviews with 10 PICU nurses. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Two major categories were found which describe the clinical judgement and decision-making of PICU nurses regarding EM. The nurses' concerns for patient safety was the first major category. This included patient-level factors: hemodynamic stability, devices attached, patient's strength, and risk for falls and size. In the second major category, these safety concerns were overcome by applying a multiple step process which resulted in nurses performing EM despite their concerns. That process included: gaining comfort through experience, performing patient safety checks, working with therapists, learning from adverse events, and understanding existing evidence about the benefits of EM. CONCLUSIONS: The overarching theme was nurses' determination to preserve patient safety while ensuring patients could receive the benefits of EM. This theme describes the decisions, behaviors and processes that nurses enact to become more comfortable with EM despite their concerns for patient safety and potential adverse events while performing mobility activities. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Creating opportunities for nurses to participate in EM may increase their willingness to overcome safety concerns and engage in these activities.

Variability in qualifications for principal investigator status in research studies by nurses: A call for clarification.

PURPOSE: To describe existing guidance for qualifications of principal investigator s (PI s) of human subjects research and explore how they are operationalized for pediatric nurse scientists and clinical nurses in children's hospitals. DESIGN AND METHODS: After reviewing federal regulations, accreditation guidelines, and the literature, a convenience sample of members of the National Pediatric Nurse Scientist Collaborative (NPNSC). Participants completed a 33-item survey that included questions about Institutional Review Board (IRB), guidelines, and policies for PI status at their affiliated children's hospitals. RESULTS: The survey was electronically disseminated to 179 members of NPNSC through the Collaborative's listserv. Of the 39 members who responded, 90% hold a PhD and 80% practice in a free-standing children's hospital, nearly all of which (93%) are recognized as Magnet® hospitals. While the majority of respondents indicated that nurse scientists and other nurses were allowed to be PIs of research studies, educational requirements for PI status varied, with 3% requiring a PhD, 15% a baccalaureate degree, and 10% a graduate degree. 54% of respondents reported there was no degree requirement for PI status; however15% reported that even doctorally prepared nurse scientists cannot serve as PIs of research studies at their affiliated children''s hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The survey identified substantial variability in requirements for PI status and potential barriers to pediatric nurses conducting independent research as PIs at children's hospitals. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Operationalizing existing guidance will expand inclusion of nurse scientist expertise in human subjects research.

Prevalence of ICU Delirium in Postoperative Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of ICU delirium in children less than 18 years old that underwent cardiac surgery within the last 30 days. The secondary aim of the study was to identify risk factors associated with ICU delirium in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgical patients. DESIGN: A 1-day, multicenter point-prevalence study of delirium in pediatric postoperative cardiac surgery patients. SETTING: Twenty-seven pediatric cardiac and general critical care units caring for postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients in North America. PATIENTS: All children less than 18 years old hospitalized in the cardiac critical care units at 06:00 on a randomly selected, study day. INTERVENTIONS: Eligible children were screened for delirium using the Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium by the study team in collaboration with the bedside nurse. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: Overall, 181 patients were enrolled and 40% (n = 73) screened positive for delirium. There were no statistically significant differences in patient demographic information, severity of defect or surgical procedure, past medical history, or postoperative day between patients screening positive or negative for delirium. Our bivariate analysis found those patients screening positive had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (12.8 vs 5.1 d; p = 0.02); required more vasoactive support (55% vs 26%; p = 0.0009); and had a higher number of invasive catheters (4 vs 3 catheters; p = 0.001). Delirium-positive patients received more total opioid exposure (1.80 vs 0.36 mg/kg/d of morphine equivalents; p < 0.001), did not have an ambulation or physical therapy schedule (p = 0.02), had not been out of bed in the previous 24 hours (p < 0.0002), and parents were not at the bedside at time of data collection (p = 0.008). In the mixed-effects logistic regression analysis of modifiable risk factors, the following variables were associated with a positive delirium screen: 1) pain score, per point increase (odds ratio, 1.3; 1.06-1.60); 2) total opioid exposure, per mg/kg/d increase (odds ratio, 1.35; 1.06-1.73); 3) SBS less than 0 (odds ratio, 4.01; 1.21-13.27); 4) pain medication or sedative administered in the previous 4 hours (odds ratio, 3.49; 1.32-9.28); 5) no progressive physical therapy or ambulation schedule in their medical record (odds ratio, 4.40; 1.41-13.68); and 6) parents not at bedside at time of data collection (odds ratio, 2.31; 1.01-5.31). CONCLUSIONS: We found delirium to be a common problem after cardiac surgery with several important modifiable risk factors.

Reducing Exposure to Opioid and Benzodiazepine Medications for Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of implementation of a comfort algorithm on infusion rates of opioids and benzodiazepines in postneonatal postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients. DESIGN: A quality improvement project, using statistical process control methodology. SETTING: Twenty-five-bed tertiary care pediatric cardiac ICU in an urban academic Children's hospital. PATIENTS: Postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients. INTERVENTIONS: Implementation of a guided comfort medication algorithm which consisted of key components; a low dose opioid continuous infusion, judicious use of frequent as needed opioids, initiation of dexmedetomidine infusion postoperatively, and minimal use of benzodiazepines. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among the baseline group admitted over the 18 month period prior to comfort algorithm implementation, 58 of 116 intubated patients (50%) received a continuous opioid infusion, compared with 30 of 41 (73%) for the implementation group over the 9-month period following implementation. Following algorithm implementation, opioid infusion rates were decreased and benzodiazepine infusions were nearly eliminated. Dexmedetomidine use and infusion rates did not change. Although mean duration of sedative drug infusions did not change with implementation, the frequency of high outliers was diminished. Duration of mechanical ventilation, length of ICU stay (outcome measures), and the frequency of unplanned extubation (balancing measure) were not affected by implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a pediatric comfort algorithm reduced opioid and benzodiazepine dosing, without compromising safety for postoperative pediatric cardiac surgical patients.

A process for academic societies to develop scientific statements and white papers: experience of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society.

There are substantial knowledge gaps, practice variation, and paucity of controlled trials owing to the relatively small number of patients with critical heart disease. The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society has recognised this knowledge gap as an area needing a more comprehensive and evidence-based approach to the management of the critically ill child with heart disease. To address this, the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society created a scientific statements and white papers committee. Scientific statements and white papers will present the current state-of-the-art in areas where controversy exists, providing clinicians with guidance in diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, particularly where evidence-based data are lacking. This paper provides a template for other societies and organisations faced with the task of developing scientific statements and white papers. We describe the methods used to perform a systematic literature search and evidence rating that will be used by all scientific statements and white papers emerging from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society. The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society aims to revolutionise the care of children with heart disease by shifting our efforts from individual institution-based practices to national standardised protocols and to lay the ground work for multicentre high-impact research directions.

Development of a clinician-parent home care education intervention.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the strengths and opportunities for improvement of current home care education practices to inform the development of the Home Care for Heart Health intervention, and to develop a web-based intervention for parents and clinicians with complimentary print materials that could provide the right education at the right time to foster a safer transition from hospital to home. METHODS: An inter-professional focus group of parents, clinicians, and designers was formed to co-create a home care education intervention for parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and their care team. We used the Integrated New Product Development process model created by Jonathon Cagan and Craig Vogel at Carnegie Mellon University to develop the intervention. This process model is a way of thinking that combines horizontal and inter-disciplinary teams, stakeholder-centric focus, and a system of qualitative discovery and development evolving towards quantitative methods of refinement. RESULTS: Our team developed the Home Care for Heart Health intervention. The evidenced-based intervention includes a quick reference guide for parents of children with CHD, an accompanying app, family-friendly pathways, and clinician education. CONCLUSION: Using an inter-professional approach, our team of clinicians, parents, and design experts were able to co-create a clinician-parent home care education intervention with broad application and lifelong relevance to the Congenital Heart Disease Community. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Our intervention has the potential to be used as a model for other home care education interventions for parents of children with chronic illnesses.

The Impact of Massage and Reading on Children's Pain and Anxiety After Cardiovascular Surgery: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this pilot study was three-fold: 1) to evaluate the safety and feasibility of instituting massage therapy in the immediate postoperative period after congenital heart surgery, 2) to examine the preliminary results on effects of massage therapy versus standard of care plus three reading visits on postoperative pain and anxiety, and 3) to evaluate preliminary effects of opioid and benzodiazepine exposure in patients receiving massage therapy compared with reading controls. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized controlled trial. SETTING: An academic children's hospital. SUBJECTS: Sixty pediatric heart surgery patients between ages 6 and 18 years. INTERVENTIONS: Massage therapy and reading. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: There were no adverse events related to massage or reading interventions in either group. Our investigation found no statistically significant difference in Pain or State-Trait Anxiety scores in the initial 24 hours after heart surgery (T1) and within 48 hours of transfer to the acute care unit (T2) after controlling for age, gender, and Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery 1 score. However, children receiving massage therapy had significantly lower State-Trait Anxiety scores after receiving massage therapy at time of discharge (T3; p = 0.0075) than children receiving standard of care plus three reading visits. We found no difference in total opioid exposure during the first 3 postoperative days between groups (median [interquartile range], 0.80 mg/kg morphine equivalents [0.29-10.60] vs 1.13 mg/kg morphine equivalents [0.72-6.14]). In contrast, children receiving massage therapy had significantly lower total benzodiazepine exposure in the immediate 3 days following heart surgery (median [interquartile range], 0.002 mg/kg lorazepam equivalents [0-0.03] vs 0.03 mg/kg lorazepam equivalents [0.02-0.09], p = 0.0253, Wilcoxon rank-sum) and number of benzodiazepine PRN doses (0.5 [0-2.5] PRN vs 2 PRNs (1-4); p = 0.00346, Wilcoxon rank-sum). CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot study demonstrated the safety and feasibility of implementing massage therapy in the immediate postoperative period in pediatric heart surgery patients. We found decreased State-Trait Anxiety scores at discharge and lower total exposure to benzodiazepines. Preventing postoperative complications such as delirium through nonpharmacologic interventions warrants further evaluation.

Management of Pediatric Delirium in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Patients: An International Survey of Current Practices.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe how pediatric cardiac intensive care clinicians assess and manage delirium in patients following cardiac surgery. DESIGN: Descriptive self-report survey. SETTING: A web-based survey of pediatric cardiac intensive care clinicians who are members of the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society. PATIENT OR SUBJECTS: Pediatric cardiac intensive care clinicians (physicians and nurses). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: One-hundred seventy-three clinicians practicing in 71 different institutions located in 13 countries completed the survey. Respondents described their clinical impression of the occurrence of delirium to be approximately 25%. Most respondents (75%) reported that their ICU does not routinely screen for delirium. Over half of the respondents (61%) have never attended a lecture on delirium. The majority of respondents (86%) were not satisfied with current delirium screening, diagnosis, and management practices. Promotion of day/night cycle, exposure to natural light, deintensification of care, sleep hygiene, and reorientation to prevent or manage delirium were among nonpharmacologic interventions reported along with the use of anxiolytic, antipsychotic, and medications for insomnia. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians responding to the survey reported a range of delirium assessment and management practices in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients. Study results highlight the need for improvement in delirium education for pediatric cardiac intensive care clinicians as well as the need for systematic evaluation of current delirium assessment and management practices.

The global burden of paediatric heart disease.

An estimated 15 million children die or are crippled annually by treatable or preventable heart disease in low- and middle-income countries. Global efforts to reduce under-5 mortality have focused on reducing death from communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries with little to no attention focusing on paediatric CHD and acquired heart disease. Lack of awareness of CHD and acquired heart disease, access to care, poor healthcare infrastructure, competing health priorities, and a critical shortage of specialists are important reasons why paediatric heart disease has not been addressed in low resourced settings. Non-governmental organisations have taken the lead to address these challenges. This review describes the global burden of paediatric heart disease and strategies to improve the quality of care for paediatric heart disease. These strategies would improve outcomes for children with heart disease.

Partnership models for the establishment of sustainable paediatric cardiac surgical and cardiac intensive care programmes in low- and middle-income countries.

The care of patients with CHD remains a challenge in low- and middle-income countries. Their health systems have not been able to achieve consistently high performance in this field. The large volume of patients, manpower constraints, inconsistencies in the level and type of background training of the teams caring for this patient population, and the inadequate quality control systems are some of the barriers to achieving excellence of care. We describe three different international projects supporting the paediatric cardiac surgical and paediatric cardiac intensive care programmes in Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Nurse and parent perceptions associated with the Parent Education Discharge Instruction Programme in southern India.

UNLABELLED: Introduction Parents of children with CHD require home care knowledge in order to ensure their child's health and safety, but there has been no research on how to achieve this in a resource-constrained environment. The aim of this investigation was to compare parent and nurse perceptions of parent readiness for discharge after a structured nurse-led parent discharge teaching programme in India. Materials and methods A pre-post design was used to compare parent and nurse perceptions of parental uncertainty and readiness for hospital discharge before and after introduction of the parent education discharge instruction programme in a paediatric cardiac surgery unit. RESULTS: Parents (n=68) and nurses (n=63) participated in this study. After the discharge programme implementation, parents had less uncertainty (M=93.3 SD=10.7 versus M=83.6 SD=4.9, p=0.001) and ambiguity (M=40.8 SD=6.8 versus M=33.4 SD=3.7, p=0.001) about their child's illness; however, they rated themselves as being less able to cope with the transition to home (M=24.3 SD=4.1 versus 23.1 SD=2.2, p=0.001) and as having less support at home than that required (M=31.5 SD=9.9 versus 30.9 SD=3.2, p=0.001). Parents' and nurses' perception of parental readiness for hospital discharge were more closely aligned after implementation of a nurse-led discharge programme (r=0.81, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the discharge programme had positive and negative effects on parental perceptions of uncertainty and readiness for discharge. Further examination is warranted to delineate these influences and to design methods for supporting parents during the transition to home care.

Parent education discharge instruction program for care of children at home after cardiac surgery in Southern India.

UNLABELLED: Introduction In many developing countries, children with CHD are now receiving surgical repair or palliation for their complex medical condition. Consequently, parents require more in-depth discharge education programmes to enable them to recognise complications and manage their children's care after hospital discharge. This investigation evaluated the effectiveness of a structured nurse-led parent discharge teaching programme on nurse, parent, and child outcomes in India. Materials and methods A quasi-experimental investigation compared nurse and parent home care knowledge before and at two time points after the parent education discharge instruction program's implementation. Child surgical-site infections and hospital costs were compared for 6 months before and after the discharge programme's implementation. RESULTS: Both nurses (n=63) and parents (n=68) participated in this study. Records of 195 children who had undergone cardiac surgery were reviewed. Nurses had a high-level baseline home care knowledge that increased immediately after the discharge programme's implementation (T1=24.4±2.89; T2=27.4±1.55; p0.05) after the programme's implementation. CONCLUSION: Nurse, parent, and child outcomes were improved after implementation of the structured nurse-led parent discharge programme for parents in India. Structured nurse-led parent discharge programmes may help prepare parents to provide better home care for their children after cardiac surgery. Further investigation of causality and influencing factors is warranted.

Nurse decision making regarding the use of analgesics and sedatives in the pediatric cardiac ICU.

OBJECTIVE: To describe nurse decision making and patient responses associated with the administration of analgesics and sedatives in the pediatric cardiac ICU. DESIGN: Prospective nonexperimental mixed methods study of pediatric cardiac ICU nursing practice. SETTING: Three tertiary academic pediatric heart centers in the United States. SUBJECTS: Pediatric cardiac ICU nurses caring for 217 patients completed 1,330 surveys. INTERVENTIONS: Four-item open-ended nurse survey completed each time an as needed dose of an analgesic or sedative was administered, an analgesic or sedative infusion/dose was titrated, and/or a new analgesic or sedative was administered. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Responses to survey questions were entered verbatim and then collapsed using a consensus process. Collapsing of the data continued until there was a working set of "symptoms," "changes," and "clinical situation managed" categories. Nurses identified 28 symptoms managed with analgesia and sedation. The most frequent symptoms included hypertension, tachycardia, crying, pain, and agitation. Nurses identified 20 patient changes that resulted from their interventions. The most prevalent changes included improved hemodynamics, calm state, sleep, comfort, and relaxed state. Nurses identified 22 clinical situations that they were attempting to manage. The most frequent clinical situations included pain, hemodynamics, procedures, hypertension, and agitation. Nurses responded that 22% of their interventions were influenced by others. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric cardiac ICU nurses use many nonspecific indicators to describe patient level of comfort collectively. Decisions for managing patient comfort were influenced by their patients' overall hemodynamic stability.

Interstage feeding and weight gain in infants following the Norwood operation: can we change the outcome?

BACKGROUND: Poor weight gain is common in infants after Stage I Norwood operation and can negatively impact outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of feeding strategy on interstage weight gain. METHODS: In a multi-centre study, 158 infants discharged following the Norwood operation were enrolled prospectively. Weight and feeding data were obtained at 2-week intervals. Differences between feeding regimens in average daily weight gain and change in weight-for-age z-score between Stage I discharge and Stage II surgery were examined. RESULTS: Discharge feeding regimens were oral only in 52%, oral with tube supplementation in 33%, and by nasogastric/gastrostomy tube only in 15%. There were significant differences in the average daily interstage weight gain among the feeding groups - oral only 25.0 grams per day, oral/tube 21.4 grams per day, and tube only 22.3 grams per day - p = 0.019. Tube-only-fed infants were significantly older at Stage II (p = 0.004) and had a significantly greater change in weight-for-age z-score (p = 0.007). The overall rate of weight gain was 16-32 grams per day, similar to infant norms. The rate of weight gain declined over time, with earlier decline observed for oral- and oral/tube-fed infants (less than 15 grams per day at 5.4 months) in comparison with tube-only-fed infants (less than 15 grams per day at 8.6 months). CONCLUSION: Following Stage I Norwood, infants discharged on oral feeding had better average daily weight gain than infants with tube-assisted feeding. The overall weight gain was within the normal limits in all feeding groups, but the rate of weight gain decreased over time, with an earlier decline in infants fed orally.

Implementation of a comprehensive interdisciplinary care coordination of infants and young children on Berlin Heart ventricular assist devices.

BACKGROUND: Young children supported on a ventricular assist device (VAD) can have prolonged hospitalizations awaiting heart transplantation. The adult VAD literature demonstrates that comprehensive programs optimize transplantation outcomes. The goal of this intervention was to create an interdisciplinary program to optimize care coordination and delivery in young children requiring a VAD. METHOD: This study was a case review. RESULTS: We have supported 8 infants and young children with Berlin Heart VAD. These children's hospitalizations have been more complex than those of our older VAD patients, and they have required intensive care for prolonged periods. An interdisciplinary group evaluated our practices and identified areas for potential improvement. The focus group from our intensive care unit introduced multiple interventions to optimize interdisciplinary care coordination and consistency of practice. These included (1) interdisciplinary care guidelines for chronically, critically ill patients; (2) institution of a primary cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) physician and nurse practitioner system; (3) introduction of a psychological intervention for families to minimize the impact of their extended CVICU stay; (4) implementation of early jejunal feeds; (5) a focused developmental and rehabilitation protocol, 6) implementation of a structured approach to minimizing blood transfusions; (7) increased structure for our interdisciplinary rounds to optimize team communication; (8) comprehensive nursing education including wound care, anticoagulation management, and laboratory draws; and (9) a protocol for off-unit rehabilitative/developmental interventions. These changes in both practice and approach for young VAD patients have also been of benefit to other chronically, critically ill children in the CVICU, as well as to our CVICU team. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive interdisciplinary care coordination and standardized practice can be achieved in the critical care setting for complex pediatric heart failure patients who require long-term VAD support.

Interprofessional Team's Perception of Care Delivery After Implementation of a Pediatric Pain and Sedation Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Pain and agitation are common experiences of patients in pediatric cardiac intensive care units. Variability in assessments by health care providers, communication, and treatment of pain and agitation creates challenges in management of pain and sedation. OBJECTIVES: To develop guidelines for assessment and treatment of pain, agitation, and delirium in the pediatric cardiac intensive unit in an academic children's hospital and to document the effects of implementation of the guidelines on the interprofessional team's perception of care delivery and team function. METHODS: Before and after implementation of the guidelines, interprofessional team members were surveyed about the members' perception of analgesia, sedation, and delirium management RESULTS: Members of the interprofessional team felt more comfortable with pain and sedation management after implementation of the guidelines. Team members reported improvements in team communication on patients' comfort. Members thought that important information was less likely to be lost during transfer of care. They also noted that the team carried out comfort management plans and used pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies better after implementation of the guidelines than they did before implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Guidelines for pain and sedation management were associated with perceived improvements in team function and patient care by members of the interprofessional team.

Silver-Impregnated Dressings for Sternotomy Incisions to Prevent Surgical Site Infections in Children.

BACKGROUND: The consequences of surgical site infections can be severe and range from short-term delays in discharge from the hospital to life-threatening infections such as mediastinitis. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of silver-impregnated dressings in decreasing surgical site infections in children after cardiac surgery. METHODS: A randomized, controlled trial was used to compare silver-impregnated dressings (59 participants) with standard dressings (58 participants). The study team supervised all dressing changes after a sternotomy and ensured adherence with the hospital's bundle for reduction of surgical site infections. The ASEPSIS tool was used to evaluate sternal wounds for evidence of infection. RESULTS: The 2 groups had comparable Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery scores, age, sex, weight, height, operating room characteristics, and number of chest tubes and/or pacemaker wires. No surgical site infections occurred in any study participant. Infections did occur, however, during the same period, in cardiac surgical patients who were not enrolled in the study. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence did not support the superiority of silver-impregnated dressings for prevention of surgical site infections in children after cardiac surgery. Adherence to a bundle for prevention of surgical site infections may have decreased the incidence of such infections in the study population during the study period.