Comparison of outcomes between children ventilated in a non‑paediatric intensive care and a paediatric intensive care unit: A retrospective analysis

X L Jingxi; P Tinarwo; R Masekela; M Archary

doi:10.7196/AJTCCM.2022.v28i3.215

Comparison of outcomes between children ventilated in a non‑paediatric intensive care and a paediatric intensive care unit: A retrospective analysis

Afr J Thorac Crit Care Med. 2022 Sep 16;28(3):10.7196/AJTCCM.2022.v28i3.215. doi: 10.7196/AJTCCM.2022.v28i3.215. eCollection 2022.

Authors

X L Jingxi¹, P Tinarwo², R Masekela^{1

3}, M Archary^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Clinical Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
² Department of Paediatrics, King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban, South Africa.
³ Department of Dietetics, King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Lack of paediatric intensive care infrastructure, human resources and expertise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often results in critically ill children being managed in non-intensive-care unit (ICU) settings.

Objectives: To compare the mortality between critically ill patients who required ventilation for more than 24 hours in a non-paediatric ICU (PICU) setting v. those admitted directly to a PICU.

Methods: Participants were enrolled if they were between one month and 13 years of age and were ventilated in a non-PICU ward in a regional hospital and a PICU ward in a tertiary/quaternary hospital during the study period of January 2015 - December 2017 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Wilcoxon test and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. Ethics approval was obtained (approval number BE568/18 BREC) from the Biostatistics Research Council of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Results: Of the 904 admissions, 25.1% (n=227) were admitted to non-PICU and 74.9% (n=677) to a PICU. A significantly higher proportion of non-PICU patients were malnourished than PICU patients (26.4% v. 13.3%, p<0.001). Patients ventilated in a PICU were 76% less likely to die (p<0.001), while patients who required inotropes were 15.08 (9.68 - 24.34) times more likely to die (p<0.001). There was a statistically significant association between admission setting and survival outcome, with higher mortality in the non-PICU setting than in the PICU setting (46.3% v. 19.5%, p<0.001).

Conclusion: Critically ill children ventilated in a non-PICU setting in KwaZulu-Natal are more likely to be malnourished, require inotropes and have higher mortality. Although increasing access to PICU bed availability is a long-term goal, the high mortality in the non-PICU setting highlights the need to optimise the availability of resources in these non-PICU wards, optimise and train the staff, and improve primary healthcare services.

Keywords: PICU; interim ventilation; mortality; non-PICU setting; outcomes.