ISSN: 2577-4301
Authors: Almeida JP*, Cruvinel Oliveira PR and David Joao PR
Objective: To evaluate the different types of ventilatory supports used in critically ill children with respiratory failure in relation to therapeutic success and length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). Hypothesis: Late orotracheal intubation is associated with prolonged ICU stay. Methods: Retrospective, single-center cohort study with patients between 1 month and 18 years old with respiratory failure admitted to the ICU of a reference hospital in Brazil during the period of 1 year. Patients from other hospitals were excluded. The sample was divided into 5 types of ventilatory support used in the admission. The main outcome is prolonged ICU stay. Results: One hundred and seventy-five children participated in the study, male = 53%, mean length of stay = 13, 7 days and overall mortality = 7,4%. In decreasing order of frequency, 52 children (30%) underwent orotracheal intubation; 49 patients (28%) used non-invasive mechanical ventilation; 33 patients (19%) used complementary oxygen; 31 children (18%) had tracheostomy; and 10 patients (5%) used a high-flow nasal cannula. Only 52,5% of the patients who used noninvasive ventilatory support showed therapeutic success. Late orotracheal intubation was associated with prolonged ICU stay (p = 0,05). Neurological disease was characterized as an independent marker of prolonged ICU stay (p= 0,03). Conclusion: Invasive ventilatory support via endotracheal tube was the most used ventilatory support in the sample studied and the delay in this procedure was statistically associated with prolonged ICU stay.
Keywords: Respiratory Insufficiency; Respiration Artificial; Length of Stay; Intensive Care Unit; Pediatrics
