Objectives: To analyze the clinical profile, etiologies and outcome of seriously ill patients admitted in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Setting: PICU of Nishtar Medical Hospital, Multan, Pakistan. Period: January 2018 to December 2018. Material & Methods: During the study period, a total of 150 children, aged 1 to 12 years, with better prognosis and post-surgical cases requiring intensive care were registered. Age, gender, cause for hospitalization (clinical, surgical or emergency), length of PICU stay, diagnosis and outcome were recorded for all patients. Results: During the year of the study, 83 (55.3%) children were noted to be male. The mean age was 56.9+12.5 months. Mechanical ventilation was done in 62 (41.3%) patients. Major indications for admission to the PICU were respiratory disorders (21.5%), followed by sepsis (11.4%) and meningitis (8.1%). Majority, 80 (53.3%) patients improved and were shifted to ward and later discharged while 27 (18.0%) expired. Conclusion: Most of the children admitted in the PICU were male, aged below 5 years. Most common indication for admission in the PICU were respiratory disorders followed by sepsis and meningitis.

Objective: To determine the frequency of delayed development in newborns with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) stage 2 presenting to Nishtar Hospital Multan. Study Design: Descriptive Case Series. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital and The Institute of Child Health, Multan. Period: August 2019 to February 2020. Material & Methods: Children with birth asphyxia (HIE stage 2) admitted in NICU were registered. The basic demographic information including name, age, sex, address and telephone number was recorded in a specifically designed proforma. Children were followed up at 3 months and developmental milestones were recorded in the proforma. Results: Mean age of newborns was 17.15±15.95 hours and mean weight was 2.88±0.28 kg. There were 55 male newborns (67.9%) and 26 female newborn babies (32.1%). Male to female ratio was 2.1:1. Frequency of delayed development of the beabies in our study was 34.6% while 53 babies (65.4%) had normal development assessed through milestones achieved at 3 months. Milestones achieved at 3 months were; head control in 54 newborns (66.7%), lifts head and chest above couch in prone position in 50 newborns (61.7%), head above line of body on ventral suspension in 55 newborns (67.9%), follows light through an arc of 180 degrees/defensive blink in 21 newborns (25.9%), turns to nearby voice in 38 newborns (46.9%), happy response to mother’s face when feeding in 63 newborns (77.8%). Conclusion: Frequency of delayed development of the newborns with stage-2 HIE in our study was high.

Objective: To determine the frequency of bacterial infection in children less than five years of age presenting with respiratory wheeze to Tertiary care centre. Study Design: Descriptive Case Series study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital and The Institute of Child Health, Multan. Period: November 2019 to April 2020. Material & Methods: A total of 130 children, presenting with respiratory symptoms were examined for presence of respiratory wheeze. After confirmation of chest auscultation, patients were enrolled. Information regarding duration of wheeze, axillary temperature, presence of chest in drawing and respiratory rate were recorded. Appropriate blood sample were drawn for total leukocyte count and differential leukocyte count from which absolute neutrophils count was calculated. Children were evaluated for the presence of bacterial infection as per operational definition. Results: There were 38 (29.23%) female and 92 (70.76%) male patients. Overall, mean age was13.17±5.49 with age range of 1-57 months. Bacterial infection was noted in 33 (25.38%) patients. Out of 130 patients presenting with wheeze, 50 patients (38.46%) had temperature range of 98.1-990F. Absolute neutrophil count was more than 5000/dl in 42(32.30%) patients, out of these 33(78.6%) had bacterial infection. Chest X-rays were showing infiltrates in 110 (84.6%) patients. Conclusion: Children suffering from wheeze have bacterial infection if age is less than five years and there is fever, crepitations, elevated absolute neutrophil count and radiographic evidence of pneumonia.

Aim: To determine the frequency of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants Place and duration of study: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study in Pediatric Medicine Department, Nishtar Hospital Multan from March, 2021 to August, 2021 Methodology: The preterm neonates were called for follow up every week for 4 weeks to diagnose Necrotizing enterocolitis. Results; Out of 174 cases, 101 (58%) were males while 73 (42%) were females. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) was noted in 61 (35.1%) while NEC in breastfeeding infants was 14/74 (18.9%) and in formula feeding infants NEC was 47/100 (47%). Conclusion; High frequency of necrotizing enterocolitis was observed in this study among formula fed preterm infants as compared to breastfed preterm infants. Keywords; Breastfeeding, formula feeding, Necrotizing enterocolitis