Pearls • The alimentary tract is responsible for mechanical and enzymatic degradation of nutrients, absorption of biochemical substrates, hormone regulation of substrate flow, separation of the external from internal environments,…
• So much reliance is placed on electronic monitoring of patients that physicians are often tempted to perform only a cursory examination or go days without laying hands on the…
• Emergence of resistant organisms is increasing in critically ill patients, requiring clinicians to use alternative drug and dosing strategies and to become familiar with institutional-specific resistance profiles. • Infectious…
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1999 to 2010, 7415 deaths were attributable to excessive heat exposure or hyperthermia in the United States. • With…
• The decision to prescribe the transfusion of any blood product must be based on individualized indications and must take into account specific health problems. • Acute severe anemia (hemoglobin…
• Hand hygiene is foundational to infection control in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), including the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs); units should be relentless in pursuing compliance with…
• Clinicians should obtain serum to store for future serologic testing when viral pathogens are considered as the potential cause of a critical illness. • Multiplex polymerase chain reaction panels…
• Vascular access devices are the most common cause of thromboembolic disease in children; thus, every attempt should be made to limit their use based on real clinical need. •…
• Most patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit are immunosuppressed to varying degrees. • Secondary immune dysfunction happens because of dysregulation between proinflammatory and antiinflammatory responses that fail…
• Proactive treatment measures for tumor lysis syndrome include hydration with hypotonic or isotonic saline solution; alkalinization; use of allopurinol or urate oxidase; avoidance of exogenous potassium; close monitoring of…
