Monitoring of cerebrovascular pressure reactivity in children may predict neurologic outcome after hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

OBJECTIVES: Impaired cerebral blood flow is a first-line reason of ischemic-hypoxic brain injury in children. The principal goal of intensive care management is to detect and prevent further cerebral blood flow deficits. This can be achieved by actively managing cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) using input from cerebrovascular autoregulation (CAR). The main objective of the current study was to investigate CAR after cardiac arrest in children. METHODS: Nineteen consecutive children younger than 18 years after cardiopulmonary resuscitation, in whom intracranial pressure (ICP) was continuously measured, were included. Blood pressure and ICP were continuously monitored via ICM + software and actively managed using the pressure reactivity index (PRx) to achieve and maintain an optimal CPP. Outcome was scored using the extended Glasgow outcome scale (eGOS) at discharge and 6 months. RESULTS: Eight children died in hospital. At 6 months, further 4 children had an unfavorable (eGOS1-4) and 7 a favorable (eGOS5-8) outcome. Over the entire monitoring period, we found an elevated ICP (24.5 vs 7.4 mmHg), a lower CPP (50.3 vs 66.2 mmHg) and a higher PRx (0.24 vs - 0.01), indicating impaired CAR, in patients with unfavorable outcome. The dose of impaired autoregulation was significantly higher in unfavorable outcome (54.6 vs 29.3%). Analyzing only the first 72 h after cardiac arrest, ICP ≥ 10 mmHg and PRx > 0.2 correlated to unfavorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Significant doses of impaired CAR within 72 h after resuscitation are associated with unfavorable outcome. The inability to restore autoregulation despite active attempts to do so as well as an elevated ICP may serve as a bad prognostic sign indicating a severe initial hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.

National Survey Regarding Motivation and Conditions of Physicians Working in a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: The professional demands on the expertise in pediatric intensive care have continuously increased in recent years. Due to a lack of applicants, the staffing of a continuous shift service with qualified medical staff poses major challenges to the hospitals. METHODS: A web-based questionnaire with 27 predominantly matrix questions on working conditions and motivation for working in this area was sent to pediatric hospitals throughout Germany. RESULTS: 165 doctors responded to the survey. The average age of the participants was 35.2 years. The average weekend work load reported by 79% of the respondents was 2 weekends per month, 70% of the study participants performed five to seven night shifts per month. 92% of the respondents stated that they basically enjoyed working in the intensive care unit (ICU). When asked to prioritize the working conditions, an appreciative working atmosphere in the team was named as priority 1 by 57%, followed by good guidance in the independent performance of interventions (25%) and good working conditions (19%). DISCUSSION: The survey result shows that neither aspects of work-life balance nor payments are the key issues selecting the interesting, but physically and emotionally demanding job in pediatric ICU. CONCLUSION: When evaluating vocational training in pediatric intensive care medicine, the immediate working atmosphere in the team with mutual respect and understanding and the guidance in training are more important than the general conditions.

Impaired Autoregulation Following Resuscitation Correlates with Outcome in Pediatric Patients: A Pilot Study.

In children with a traumatic brain injury, the duration of autoregulation impairment correlates with the neurological outcome. This pilot study explored whether a similar relation exists in nontraumatic hypoxic-ischemic brain injury following resuscitation.We investigated 11 children after resuscitation. Blood pressure and intracranial pressure (ICP) were monitored with ICM+ software and actively managed to maintain optimal cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), using the pressure reactivity index (PRx). Outcomes were scored according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale.Three children died within 24 h. Three survivors had an unfavorable outcome and five had a favorable outcome. In the first 72 h, ICP and CPP values did not differ between, or predict, children with favorable or unfavorable outcomes. The duration of a PRx value ≥0.2 was significantly greater in children with an unfavorable outcome. A PRx value ≤0 was associated with a favorable outcome in all except one child. Children with an unfavorable outcome had areas of ischemic brain tissue on magnetic resonance imaging.The duration of poor autoregulation within the first 72 h is associated with an unfavorable outcome. Prognostic signs for insult severity are initially poor autoregulation plus inability to restore autoregulation despite active attempts to do so. Limited ischemia, especially in the basal ganglia, cannot be detected by ICP-based monitoring of autoregulation and may still result in an unfavorable outcome despite good global autoregulation.

Evaluation of a Multimodal Resuscitation Program and Comparison of Mouth-to-Mouth and Bag-Mask Ventilation by Relatives of Children With Chronic Diseases.

OBJECTIVES: Children with chronic critical illness are at higher risk for cardiopulmonary arrests. Before chronically ill children are discharged from hospital, family members receive training in basic life support at many institutions. We evaluated whether a multimodal training program is able to teach adherence to current resuscitation guidelines and whether laypersons can be trained to perform both bag-mask ventilation and mouth-to-mouth ventilation equally effective in infants. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Pediatric critical care unit of a tertiary referral center. SUBJECTS: Relatives of children with chronic illness prior to discharge from hospital. INTERVENTIONS: Multimodal emergency and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training program. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Following participation in our cardiopulmonary resuscitation training program 56 participants performed 112 simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitations (56 with mouth-to-mouth ventilation, 56 with bag-mask ventilation). Nearly all participants checked for consciousness and breathing. Shouting for help and activation of the emergency response system was only performed in half of the cases. There was almost full adherence to the resuscitation guidelines regarding number of chest compressions, chest compression rate, compression depth, full chest recoil, and duration of interruption of chest compression for rescue breaths. The comparison of mouth-to-mouth ventilation and bag-mask ventilation revealed no significant differences regarding the rate of successful ventilation (mouth-to-mouth ventilation: 77.1% ± 39.6%, bag-mask ventilation: 80.4% ± 38.0%; p = 0.39) and the cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance. CONCLUSIONS: A standardized multimodal cardiopulmonary resuscitation training program for family members of chronically ill children is effective to teach good cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance and adherence to resuscitation guidelines. Laypersons could be successfully trained to equally perform mouth-to-mouth and bag-mask ventilation technique.

Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism Before and After RBC Transfusion in Infants Following Major Surgical Procedures.

OBJECTIVE: Although infants following major surgery frequently require RBC transfusions, there is still controversy concerning the best definition for requirement of transfusion in the individual patient. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of RBC transfusion on cerebral oxygen metabolism in noncardiac and cardiac postsurgical infants. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: Pediatric critical care unit of a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Fifty-eight infants (15 after pediatric surgery and 43 after cardiac surgery) with anemia requiring RBC transfusion were included. INTERVENTIONS: RBC transfusion. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We measured noninvasively regional cerebral oxygen saturation and microperfusion (relative cerebral blood flow) using tissue spectrometry and laser Doppler flowmetry before and after RBC transfusion. Cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction and approximated cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen were calculated. Fifty-eight RBC transfusions in 58 patients were monitored (15 after general surgery, 24 after cardiac surgery resulting in acyanotic biventricular physiology and 19 in functionally univentricular hearts including hypoplastic left heart following neonatal palliation). The posttransfusion hemoglobin concentrations increased significantly (9.7 g/dL vs 12.8 g/dL; 9.7 g/dL vs 13.8 g/dL; 13.1 g/dL vs 15.6 g/dL; p < 0.001, respectively). Posttransfusion cerebral oxygen saturation was significantly higher than pretransfusion (61% [51-78] vs 72% [59-89]; p < 0.001; 58% [35-77] vs 71% [57-88]; p < 0.001; 51% [37-61] vs 58% [42-73]; p = 0.007). Cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction decreased posttransfusion significantly 0.37 (0.16-0.47) and 0.27 (0.07-039), p = 0.002; 0.40 (0.2-0.62) vs 0.26 (0.11-0.57), p = 0.001; 0.42 (0.23-0.52) vs 0.32 (0.1-0.42), p = 0.017. Cerebral blood flow and approximated cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen showed no significant change during the observation period. The increase in cerebral oxygen saturation and the decrease in cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction were most pronounced in patients after cardiac surgery with a pretransfusion cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction greater than or equal to 0.4. CONCLUSION: Following RBC transfusion, cerebral oxygen saturation increases and cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction decreases. The data suggest that cerebral oxygenation in postoperative infants with cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction greater than or equal to 0.4 may be at risk in instable hemodynamic or respiratory situations.

Severe Upper Airway Obstruction After Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: A Retrospective Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate if there is a correlation between the use of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography and an increased rate of extubation failure and to find other risk factors for severe upper airway obstructions after pediatric cardiac surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: Cardiac PICU. PATIENTS: Patients 24 months old or younger who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease with cardiopulmonary bypass were retrospectively enrolled and divided into two groups depending on whether they received an intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography or not. We analyzed all cases of early reintubations within 12 hours after extubation due to a documented upper airway obstruction. INTERVENTION: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: From a total of 424 patients, 12 patients (2.8%) met our criteria of early reintubation due to upper airway obstruction. Ten of 207 children in the transesophageal echocardiography group had to be reintubated, whereas only two of the 217 children in the control group had to be reintubated (4.8% vs 0.9%; p = 0.018). Logistic regression analysis showed a significant correlation between use of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography and extubation failure (odds ratio, 5.64; 95% CI, 1.18-27.05; p = 0.030). There was no significant relationship among sex (odds ratio, 4.53; 95% CI, 0.93-22.05; p = 0.061), weight (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.82-1.40; p = 0.601), duration of surgery (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.74-1.44; p = 0.834), duration of mechanical ventilation (odds ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.99-1.00; p = 0.998), and occurrence of trisomy 21 (odds ratio, 3.47; 95% CI, 0.83-14.56; p = 0.089). CONCLUSIONS: Although the benefits of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography during pediatric cardiac surgery are undisputed, it may be one factor which could increase the rate of severe upper airway obstruction after extubation with the need for reintubation. We suggest to take precautions before extubating high-risk patients, especially in young male children with genetic abnormalities after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Nurse-driven analgesia and sedation in pediatric patients with univentricular hearts requiring extracorporeal life support after first-stage palliation surgery: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Few data are available regarding requirements of sedation and analgesia in children during extracorporeal life support. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate if children with functionally univentricular hearts on extracorporeal life support after first-stage palliation surgery have higher requirement of analgesics and sedatives compared with children without extracorporeal life support using a goal-directed nurse-driven analgesia and sedation protocol. METHODS: This prospective observational matched case-control pilot study was conducted at a cardiac pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary referral center. Seventeen patients with functionally univentricular hearts including hypoplastic left heart syndrome who were on extracorporeal life support after first-stage palliation surgery were enrolled from July 2012 to January 2017. Seventeen matched patients served as controls. Doses of morphine, midazolam, clonidine, and muscle relaxants as well as sedation scores (COMFORT behavior scale and the nurse interpretation of sedation scale) were assessed according to a nurse-driven protocol every 8 hours up to 120 hours after first-stage palliation surgery. RESULTS: Sedation scores were equal in the extracorporeal life support group and in the control group at most points in time. There was no significant difference in cumulative doses of morphine and midazolam. However, children of the extracorporeal life support group received higher doses of midazolam and morphine at some points in time. CONCLUSION: A nurse-driven protocol for analgesia and sedation of children with extracorporeal life support is feasible. Patients with extracorporeal life support do not need deeper sedation levels and have not higher cumulative sedation requirements than children without extracorporeal life support.

Time spent with impaired autoregulation is linked with outcome in severe infant/paediatric traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: It could be shown in traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adults that the functional status of cerebrovascular autoregulation (AR), determined by the pressure reactivity index (PRx), correlates to and even predicts outcome. We investigated PRx, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and intracranial pressure (ICP) and their correlation to outcome in severe infant and paediatric TBI. METHODS: Seventeen patients (range, 1 day to 14 years) with severe TBI (median GCS at presentation, 4) underwent long-term computerised ICP and mean arterial pressure (MAP) monitoring using dedicated software to determine CPP and PRx and optimal CPP (CPP level where PRx shows best autoregulation) continuously. Outcome was determined at discharge and at follow-up using the Glasgow Outcome Scale. RESULTS: Favourable outcome was reached in eight patients, unfavourable outcome in seven patients. Two patients died. Nine patients underwent decompressive craniectomy to control ICP during Intensive Care Unit treatment. When dichotomised to outcome, no significant difference was found for overall ICP, CPP and PRx. The time with severely impaired AR (PRx >0.2) was significantly longer for patients with unfavourable outcome (64 h vs 6 h, p = 0.001). Continuously impaired AR of ≥24 h and age <1 year was associated to unfavourable outcome. Children with favourable outcome spent the entire monitoring time at or above the optimal CPP. CONCLUSIONS: Integrity of AR has a similar role for outcome after TBI in the paediatric population as in adults. The amount of time spent with deranged AR seems to be associated with outcome; a factor especially critical for infant patients. The results of this preliminary study need to be validated in the future.

Investigating predictive power of agency and communion for interprofessional learner outcomes: A before-after study.

As interprofessional education (IPE) continues to be instituted, much attention has been paid to training-intervention effectiveness. Less attention has been paid to the selection side of the IPE model; however, efficient delivery is necessary to sustain the development of IPE. This short report investigates the "two big social cognitions" (agency and communion) as individual-difference predictors of attitude change and knowledge acquisition. A 3-week before-after observational design with survey methodology was conducted in a pre-licensure IPE setting (n = 82). Results indicated significant interactions of agency and communion in predicting learner outcomes. Our findings should stimulate future IPE researchers to identify additional, selection-relevant design factors (e.g., individual differences) that may enhance comparative-effectiveness of IPE.

State of Cerebrovascular Autoregulation Correlates with Outcome in Severe Infant/Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.

OBJECTIVE: It could be shown in adults with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) that the functional status of cerebrovascular autoregulation (AR), determined by the pressure reactivity index (PRx), correlates with and even predicts outcome. We investigated PRx and its correlation with outcome in infant and pediatric TBI. Methods Ten patients (median age 2.8 years, range 1 day to 14 years) with severe TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale score <9 at presentation) underwent long-term computerized intracranial pressure (ICP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) monitoring using dedicated software for continuous determination of cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and PRx. Outcome was determined at discharge and at follow-up at 6 months using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score. RESULTS: Median monitoring time was 182 h (range 22-355 h). Seven patients underwent decompressive craniectomy to control ICP during treatment in the intensive care unit. Favorable outcome (GOS 4 and 5) was reached in 4 patients, an unfavorable outcome (GOS 1-3) in 6 patients. When dichotomized to outcome, no correlation was found with ICP and CPP, but median PRx correlated well with outcome (r = -0.79, p = 0.006) and tended to be lower for GOS 4 and 5 (-0.04) than for GOS 1-3 (0.32; p = 0.067). CONCLUSION: The integrity of AR seems to play the same fundamental role after TBI in the pediatric population as in adults and should be determined routinely. It carries an important prognostic value. PRx seems to be an ideal candidate parameter to guide treatment in the sense of optimizing CPP, aiming at improvement of cerebrovascular autoregulation (CPPopt concept).

Structured performance assessment in three pediatric emergency scenarios: a validation study.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate 3 performance evaluation checklists (PECs) for systematic performance assessment in 3 clinical scenarios: cardiopulmonary arrest, dyspnea with oxygen desaturation after intubation, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). STUDY DESIGN: The 3 PECs were developed using an integrative approach and used to rate 50 training sessions in a simulator environment by different raters. Construct validity was tested by correlating the checklist scores with external constructs (ie, global rating, team experience level, and time to action). Further interrater reliability was tested for all 3 PECs. RESULTS: The PECs for the desaturation and cardiopulmonary arrest scenarios were valid and reliable, whereas the PEC for RSV had limited validity and reliability. CONCLUSION: For 2 pediatric emergencies, the PEC is a valid and reliable tool for systematic performance assessment. The unsatisfactory results for the PEC for RSV may be related to limitations of the simulation setting and require further investigation. Structured assessment of clinical performance can augment feedback on technical performance aspects and is essential for training purposes as well as for research. Only reliable and valid performance measures will allow medical educators to accurately evaluate the behavioral effects of training interventions and further enhance the quality of patient care.

Sonographic assessment of abdominal fat distribution during the first year of infancy.

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal data regarding the fat distribution in the early postnatal period is sparse. METHODS: We performed ultrasonography (US) as a noninvasive approach to investigate the development of abdominal subcutaneous (SC) and preperitoneal (PP) fat depots in infants ≤1 y and compared longitudinal US data with skinfold thickness (SFT) measurements and anthropometry in 162 healthy children at 6 wk, 4 mo, and 1 y postpartum. RESULTS: US was found to be a reproducible method for the quantification of abdominal SC and PP adipose tissue (AT) in this age group. Thickness of SC fat layers significantly increased from 6 wk to 4 mo and decreased at 1 y postpartum, whereas PP fat layers continuously increased. Girls had a significantly higher SC fat mass compared to boys, while there was no sex-specific difference in PP fat thickness. SC fat layer was strongly correlated with SFT measurements, while PP fat tissue was only weakly correlated with anthropometric measures. CONCLUSION: US is a feasible and reproducible method for the quantification of abdominal fat mass in infants ≤1 y of age. PP and SC fat depots develop differentially during the first year of life.

Nurse-driven pediatric analgesia and sedation protocol reduces withdrawal symptoms in critically ill medical pediatric patients.

BACKGROUND: While several analgesia and sedation guidelines and protocols have been developed and implemented for adults, there is still little evidence of clinical use of analgesia and sedation protocols and the impact on withdrawal symptoms in critically ill children. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a nurse-driven goal-directed analgesia and sedation protocol for mechanically ventilated pediatric patients (pASP) on duration of mechanical ventilation, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) length of stay, total doses of opioids and benzodiazepines, and occurrence of withdrawal symptoms. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a before and after protocol implementation study in a 14-bed medical-surgical-cardiac pediatric intensive care unit at a university children's hospital. A total of 337 medical pediatric patients requiring mechanical ventilation with PICU length of stay for at least 24 h were included. Prior to implementation of the protocol, analgesia and sedation was managed by the attending physician's order. Afterwards, postimplementation, nurses managed analgesia and sedation following a pASP, including COMFORT 'behavioral' Scale, Nurse Interpretation Sedation Scale, and Sophia Observation Withdrawal Symptoms Scale. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-five patients were included in the 15-month period before and 172 patients were included in the 15-month period after implementation of the pASP. Median duration of mechanical ventilation was 2.02 (0.96-25.0) days in the group preceding protocol implementation and 1.71 (0.96-66.0) days afterwards (P = 0.23). Median PICU length of stay was 5.8 (1-37.75) days in the preimplementation and 5.0 (1-120) days in the postimplementation group (P = 0.14). Total doses of opioids and benzodiazepines were 3.9 mg·kg(-1) ·day(-1) (0.1-70) vs 3.1 mg·kg(-1) ·day(-1) (0.05-56); P = 0.38 and 5.9 mg·kg(-1) ·day(-1) (0-82.0) vs 4.2 mg·kg(-1) ·day(-1) (0-66); P = 0.009 after implementation. Incidence of withdrawal was significantly lower over the postimplementation period (12.8% vs 23.6%; P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Implementation of a nurse-driven pASP reduced the total dose of benzodiazepines and the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms significantly.

Breast milk fatty acid profile in relation to infant growth and body composition: results from the INFAT study.

BACKGROUND: There is some evidence that the n-6/n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) ratio in early nutrition, and thus in breast milk, could influence infant body composition. METHODS: In an open-label randomized controlled trial (RCT), 208 healthy pregnant women were allocated to a dietary intervention (supplementation with 1,200 mg n-3 LCPUFAs per day and instructions to reduce arachidonic acid (AA) intake) from the 15th wk of gestation until 4 mo of lactation or to follow their habitual diet. Breast milk LCPUFAs at 6 wk and 4 mo postpartum were related to infant body composition assessed by skinfold thickness (SFT) measurements and ultrasonography during the first year of life. RESULTS: Dietary intervention significantly reduced breast milk n-6/n-3 LCPUFAs ratio. In the whole sample, early breast milk docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and n-3 LCPUFAs at 6 wk postpartum were positively related to the sum of four SFT measurements at age 1. Breast milk AA and n-6 LCPUFAs at 6 wk postpartum were negatively associated with weight, BMI, and lean body mass (LBM) up to 4 mo postpartum. CONCLUSION: Breast milk n-3 LCPUFAs appear to stimulate fat mass growth over the first year of life, whereas AA seems to be involved in the regulation of overall growth, especially in the early postpartum period.

Recommendations of the Netzwerk Kindersimulation for the Implementation of Simulation-Based Pediatric Team Trainings: A Delphi Process.

BACKGROUND: Serious or life-threatening pediatric emergencies are rare. Patient outcomes largely depend on excellent teamwork and require regular simulation-based team training. Recommendations for pediatric simulation-based education are scarce. We aimed to develop evidence-based guidelines to inform simulation educators and healthcare stakeholders. METHODS: A modified three-round Delphi technique was used. The first guideline draft was formed through expert discussion and based on consensus (n = 10 Netzwerk Kindersimulation panelists). Delphi round 1 consisted of an individual and team revision of this version by the expert panelists. Delphi round 2 comprised an in-depth review by 12 external international expert reviewers and revision by the expert panel. Delphi round 3 involved a revisit of the guidelines by the external experts. Consensus was reached after three rounds. RESULTS: The final 23-page document was translated into English and adopted as international guidelines by the Swiss Society of Pediatrics (SGP/SSP), the German Society for Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care (GNPI), and the Austrian Society of Pediatrics. CONCLUSIONS: Our work constitutes comprehensive up-to-date guidelines for simulation-based team trainings and debriefings. High-quality simulation training provides standardized learning conditions for trainees. These guidelines will have a sustainable impact on standardized high-quality simulation-based education.

Implementation and Evaluation of Resuscitation Training for Childcare Workers.

Background and Objective: Children spend a large amount of time in daycare centers or schools. Therefore, it makes sense to train caregivers well in first-aid measures in children. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether a multimodal resuscitation training for childcare workers can teach adherence to resuscitation guidelines in a sustainable way. Materials and Methods: Caregivers at a daycare center who had previously completed a first-aid course received a newly developed multimodal resuscitation training in small groups of 7-8 participants by 3 AHA certified PALS instructors and providers. The 4-h focused retraining consisted of a theoretical component, expert modeling, resuscitation exercises on pediatric manikins (Laerdal Resusci Baby QCPR), and simulated emergency scenarios. Adherence to resuscitation guidelines was compared before retraining, immediately after training, and after 6 months. This included evaluation of chest compressions per round, chest compression rate, compression depth, full chest recoil, no-flow time, and success of rescue breaths. For better comparability and interpretation of the results, the parameters were evaluated both separately and summarized in a resuscitation score reflecting the overall adherence to the guidelines. Results: A total of 101 simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitations were evaluated in 39 participants. In comparison to pre-retraining, chest compressions per round (15.0 [10.0-29.0] vs. 30.0 [30.0-30.0], p < 0.001), chest compression rate (100.0 [75.0-120.0] vs. 112.5 [105-120.0], p < 0.001), correct compression depth (6.7% [0.0-100.0] vs. 100.0% [100.0-100.0], p < 0.001), no-flow time (7.0 s. [5.0-9.0] vs. 4.0 s. [3.0-5.0], p < 0.001), success of rescue breaths (0.0% [0.0-0.0] vs. 100.0% [100.0-100.0], p < 0.001), and resuscitation score were significantly improved immediately after training (3.9 [3.2-4.9] vs. 6.3 [5.6-6.7], p < 0.001). At follow-up, there was no significant change in chest compression rate and success of rescue breaths. Chest compressions per round (30.0 [15.0-30.0], p < 0.001), no-flow time (5.0 s. [4.0-8.0], p < 0.001), compression depths (100.0% [96.7-100.0], p < 0.001), and resuscitation score worsened again after 6 months (5.7 [4.7-6.4], p = 0.03). However, the results were still significantly better compared to pre-retraining. Conclusion: Our multimodal cardiopulmonary resuscitation training program for caregivers is effective to increase the resuscitation performance immediately after training. Although the effect diminishes after 6 months, adherence to resuscitation guidelines was significantly better than before retraining.

Effects of hypertonic saline on intracranial pressure and cerebral autoregulation in pediatric traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: Hypertonic saline (HTS) is commonly used in children to lower intracranial pressure (ICP) after severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI). While ICP and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) correlate moderately to TBI outcome, indices of cerebrovascular autoregulation enhance the correlation of neuromonitoring data to neurological outcome. In this study, the authors sought to investigate the effect of HTS administration on ICP, CPP, and autoregulation in pediatric patients with sTBI. METHODS: Twenty-eight pediatric patients with sTBI who were intubated and sedated were included. Blood pressure and ICP were actively managed according to the autoregulation index PRx (pressure relativity index to determine and maintain an optimal CPP [CPPopt]). In cases in which ICP was continuously > 20 mm Hg despite all other measures to decrease it, an infusion of 3% HTS was administered. The monitoring data of the first 6 hours after HTS administration were analyzed. The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score at the 3-month follow-up was used as the primary outcome measure, and patients were dichotomized into favorable (GOS score 4 or 5) and unfavorable (GOS score 1-3) groups. RESULTS: The mean dose of HTS was 40 ml 3% NaCl. No significant difference in ICP and PRx was seen between groups at the HTS administration. ICP was lowered significantly in all children, with the effect lasting as long as 6 hours. The lowering of ICP was significantly greater and longer in children with a favorable outcome (p < 0.001); only this group showed significant improvement of autoregulatory capacity (p = 0.048). A newly established HTS response index clearly separated the outcome groups. CONCLUSIONS: HTS significantly lowered ICP in all children after sTBI. This effect was significantly greater and longer-lasting in children with a favorable outcome. Moreover, HTS administration restored disturbed autoregulation only in the favorable outcome group. This highlights the role of a "rescuable" autoregulation regarding outcome, which might be a possible indicator of injury severity. The effect of HTS on autoregulation and other possible mechanisms should be further investigated.

More Than 500 Kids Could Be Saved Each Year! Ten Consensus Actions to Improve Quality of Pediatric Resuscitation in DACH-Countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland).

• Quality and outcome of pediatric resuscitation often does not achieve recommended goals. • Quality improvement initiatives with the aim of better survival rates and decreased morbidity of resuscitated children are urgently needed. • These initiatives should include an action framework for a comprehensive, fundamental, and interprofessional reorientation of clinical and organizational structures concerning resuscitation and post-resuscitation care of children. • The authors of this DACH position statement suggest the implementation of 10 evidence-based actions (for out-of-hospital and in-house cardiac arrests) that should improve survival rates and decrease morbidity of resuscitated children with better neurological outcome and quality of life.