ACUTE MECHANICAL VENTILATION: AN INDEX OF PEDIATRIC ICU BED UTILIZATION

Only 28.0% of pediatric ICU (PICU) admissions to a tertiarycare center (MCV) over an 8-year period required acute mechanical ventilation (MV), yet these accounted for 52.5% of total PICU patient days. Transport admissions had a greater than average requirement for MV (40.4%). The median duration of intensive care (MDIC) for all MV patients was 4 days. Subgroups differing in MDIC at the p<0.01 level included: a) under 2 years (5d) vs. older (4d); b) medical (5d) vs. all perioperative (3d); and c) cardiac surgery (3d) vs. other perioperative (Ad). Only 4.8% of MV patients required more than one month in the PICU, but 67.8% of that long-term subgroup were less than 2 years old (p<0.01).