Microcirculatory Changes in Pediatric Patients During Congenital Heart Defect Corrective Surgery.

A prospective, observational single-center study was carried out. Pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart defect surgery were evaluated before, during, and after surgery. At each time point, sublingual microcirculation and clinical parameters were assessed, along with analytical variables. Twenty-four patients were included. All microcirculatory parameters worsened during cardiopulmonary bypass and returned to baseline values after surgery (p ≤ 0.001). In the intraoperative evaluation, body temperature correlated with perfused small vessel density (p = 0.014), proportion of perfused small vessels (p < 0.001), small vessel microvascular flow index (p = 0.003), and small vessel heterogeneity index (p < 0.002). Patients with cyanotic disease exhibited higher small vessel density (p < 0.008) and higher density of perfused small vessels (p < 0.022) at baseline, and a lower microvascular flow index (p = 0.022) and higher heterogeneity (p = 0.026) in the intraoperative phase. Children with congenital heart disease exhibited decreased vascular density and microvascular blood flow and increased heterogeneity during cardiopulmonary bypass. All these parameters returned to baseline values after surgery.

Hemodynamic disturbances and oliguria during continuous kidney replacement therapy in critically ill children.

BACKGROUND: About 1.5% of patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) will require continuous kidney replacement therapy (CKRT)/renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Mortality of these patients ranges from 30 to 60%. CKRT-related hypotension (CKRT-RHI) can occur in 19-45% of patients. Oliguria after onset of CKRT is also common, but to date has not been addressed directly in the scientific literature. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted to define factors involved in the hemodynamic changes that take place during the first hours of CKRT, and their relationship with urinary output. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients who were admitted to a single-center PICU requiring CKRT between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2018, were included, of whom 56.3% developed CKRT-RHI. This drop in blood pressure was transient and rapidly restored to baseline, and significantly improved after the third hour of CKRT, as core temperature and heart rate decreased. Urine output significantly decreased after starting CKRT, and 72% of patients were oliguric after 6 h of therapy. Duration of CKRT was significantly longer in patients presenting with oliguria than in non-oliguric patients (28.7 vs. 7.9 days, p = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: The initiation of CKRT caused hemodynamic instability immediately after initial connection in most patients, but had a beneficial effect on the patient's hemodynamic status after 3 h of therapy, presumably owing to decreases in body temperature and heart rate. Urine output significantly decreased in all patients and was not related to negative fluid balance, patient's hemodynamic status, CKRT settings, or kidney function parameters.

Sedative and Analgesic Drug Rotation Protocol in Critically Ill Children With Prolonged Sedation: Evaluation of Implementation and Efficacy to Reduce Withdrawal Syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: The first aim of this study was to assess the implementation of a sedative and analgesic drug rotation protocol in a PICU. The second aim was to analyze the incidence of withdrawal syndrome, drug doses, and time of sedative or analgesic drug infusion in children after the implementation of the new protocol. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: PICU of a tertiary care hospital between June 2012 and June 2016. PATIENTS: All patients between 1 month and 16 years old admitted to the PICU who received continuous IV infusion of sedative or analgesic drugs for more than 4 days were included in the study. INTERVENTIONS: A sedative and analgesic drug rotation protocol was designed. The level of sedation, analgesia, and withdrawal syndrome were monitored with validated scales. The relationship between compliance with the protocol and the incidence of withdrawal syndrome was studied. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One-hundred pediatric patients were included in the study. The protocol was followed properly in 35% of patients. Sixty-seven percent of the overall cohort presented with withdrawal syndrome. There was a lower incidence rate of withdrawal syndrome (34.3% vs 84.6%; p < 0.001), shorter PICU length of stay (median 16 vs 25 d; p = 0.003), less time of opioid infusion (median 5 vs 7 d for fentanyl; p = 0.004), benzodiazepines (median 5 vs 9 d; p = 0.001), and propofol (median 4 vs 8 d; p = 0.001) in the cohort of children in which the protocol was followed correctly. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that compliance with the drug rotation protocol in critically ill children requiring prolonged sedation may reduce the appearance of withdrawal syndrome without increasing the risk of adverse effects. Furthermore, it may reduce the time of continuous IV infusions for most sedative and analgesic drugs and the length of stay in PICU.