The Nurse-Implemented Chronotherapeutic Bundle in Critically Ill Children, RESTORE Resilience (R2): Pilot Testing in a Two-Phase Cohort Study, 2017-2021.

OBJECTIVES: Pilot test the nurse-led chronotherapeutic bundle in critically ill children, RESTORE Resilience (R2). DESIGN: A two-phase cohort study was carried out from 2017 to 2021. SETTING: Two similarly sized and organized PICUs in the United States. PATIENTS: Children 6 months to 17 years old who were mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory failure. INTERVENTIONS: R2 seven-item chronotherapeutic bundle, including: 1) replication of child's pre-hospital daily routine (i.e., sleep/wake, feeding, activity patterns); 2) cycled day-night light/sound modulation; 3) minimal effective sedation; 4) night fasting with bolus enteral daytime feedings; 5) early progressive mobility; 6) nursing care continuity; and 7) parent diaries. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Children underwent environmental (light, sound) and patient (actigraphy, activity log, salivary melatonin, electroencephalogram) monitoring. Parents completed the Child's Daily Routine and Sleep Survey (CDRSS) and Family-Centered Care Scale. The primary outcome was post-extubation daytime activity consolidation (Daytime Activity Ratio Estimate [DARE]). Twenty baseline-phase (2017-2019) and 36 intervention-phase (2019-2021) participants were enrolled. During the intervention phase, nurses used the CDRSS to construct children's PICU schedules. Overall compliance with nurse-implemented R2 elements 1-5 increased from 18% (interquartile range, 13-30%) at baseline to 63% (53-68%) during the intervention phase (p < 0.001). Intervention participants were exposed to their pre-hospitalization daily routine (p = 0.002), cycled day-night light/sound modulation (p < 0.001), and early progressive mobility on more PICU days (p = 0.02). Sedation target identification, enteral feeding schedules, and nursing care continuity did not differ between phases. Parent diaries were seldom used. DARE improved during the intervention phase and was higher pre-extubation (median 62% vs. 53%; p = 0.04) but not post-extubation (62% vs. 57%; p = 0.56). CONCLUSIONS: In the PICU, implementation of an individualized nurse-implemented chronotherapeutic bundle is feasible. Children who received the R2 bundle had increased pre-extubation daytime activity consolidation compared to children receiving usual care. Given variation in protocol adherence, further R2 testing should include interprofessional collaboration, pragmatic trial design, and implementation science strategies.

Pilot Investigation of Somatosensory Functioning and Pain Catastrophizing in Pediatric Spinal Fusion Surgery.

PURPOSE: Chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) is a significant concern and contributes to the opioid epidemic; however, little is known about CPSP in young people. DESIGN: This prospective study aimed to identify sensory, psychological, and demographic factors that may increase the risk of CPSP after spinal fusion surgery for children and adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: 32 children and adolescents from two children's hospitals completed quantitative sensory testing (QST) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale Child (PCS-C) pre-and 4-6 months post spinal fusion surgery. Between-group differences were assessed using an independent samples t-test. Pearson's correlations and stepwise linear regression were used to assess the relationship between variables at both time points. RESULTS: 56% of patients endorsed pain post-surgery. They were more sensitive tomechanical detection on both a control non-pain site (r = -2.87, p = .004) and the back (r = -1.83, p = .04), as well as pressure pain (r=-2.37, p = .01) on the back. This group also reported worse pain scores pre-surgery. Pre-surgery helplessness positively correlated with preoperative pain (r = .67 p < .001), and age was negatively correlated with the post-surgical catastrophizing total score (r =-.39, p = .05), suggesting that younger patients endorsed more pain-related worry after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who present with pain during their preoperative appointment may need to be monitored with increased vigilance throughout the perioperative period, possibly with bedside QST and psychological questionnaires, which nurses could administer. Biobehavioral interventions targeting pain intensity and feelings of helplessness and anxiety during the preoperative period may alleviate the transition to CPSP.

Design and rationale of the Post-Intensive Care Syndrome - paediatrics (PICS-p) Longitudinal Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: As paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) mortality declines, there is growing recognition of the morbidity experienced by children surviving critical illness and their families. A comprehensive understanding of the adverse physical, cognitive, emotional and social sequelae common to PICU survivors is limited, however, and the trajectory of recovery and risk factors for morbidity remain unknown. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The Post-Intensive Care Syndrome - paediatrics Longitudinal Cohort Study will evaluate child and family outcomes over 2 years following PICU discharge and identify child and clinical factors associated with impaired outcomes. We will enrol 750 children from 30 US PICUs during their first PICU hospitalisation, including 500 case participants experiencing ≥3 days of intensive care that include critical care therapies (eg, mechanical ventilation, vasoactive infusions) and 250 age-matched, sex-matched and medical complexity-matched control participants experiencing a single night in the PICU with no intensive care therapies. Children, parents and siblings will complete surveys about health-related quality of life, physical function, cognitive status, emotional health and peer and family relationships at multiple time points from baseline recall through 2 years post-PICU discharge. We will compare outcomes and recovery trajectories of case participants to control participants, identify risk factors associated with poor outcomes and determine the emotional and social health consequences of paediatric critical illness on parents and siblings. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has received ethical approval from the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board (protocol #843844). Our overall objective is to characterise the ongoing impact of paediatric critical illness to guide development of interventions that optimise outcomes among children surviving critical illness and their families. Findings will be presented at key disciplinary meetings and in peer-reviewed publications at fixed data points. Published manuscripts will be added to our public study website to ensure findings are available to families, clinicians and researchers. TRIALS REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04967365.

Pediatric Critical Care Outcomes: State of the Science.

Children who survive the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are at risk of developing post-intensive care syndrome in pediatrics (PICS-p). PICS-p, defined as new physical, cognitive, emotional, and/or social health dysfunction following critical illness, can affect the child and family. Historically, synthesizing PICU outcomes research has been challenging due to inconsistency in study design and in outcomes measurement. PICS-p risk may be mitigated by implementing intensive care unit best practices that limit iatrogenic injury and by supporting the resiliency of critically ill children and their families.

Screening for Social Determinants of Health in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Recommendations for Clinicians.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) play a significant role in the health and well-being of children in the United States. Disparities in the risk and outcomes of critical illness have been extensively documented but are yet to be fully explored through the lens of SDoH. In this review, we provide justification for routine SDoH screening as a critical first step toward understanding the causes of, and effectively addressing health disparities affecting critically ill children. Second, we summarize important aspects of SDoH screening that need to be considered before implementing this practice in the pediatric critical care setting.