BackgroundThe burden of pediatric critical illness and resource utilization by children with critical illness in resource limited settings (RLS) are largely unknown. Without specific data that captures key aspects of critical illness, disease presentation, and resource utilization for pediatric populations in RLS, development of a contextual framework for appropriate, evidence-based interventions to guide allocation of limited but available resources is challenging. We present this methods paper which describes our efforts to determine the prevalence, etiology, hospital outcomes, and resource utilization associated with pediatric acute, critical illness in RLS globally.MethodsWe will conduct a prospective, observational, multicenter, multinational point prevalence study in sixty-one participating RLS hospitals from North, Central and South America, Africa, Middle East and South Asia with four sampling time points over a 12-month period. Children aged 29 days to 14 years evaluated for acute illness or injury in an emergency department) or directly admitted to an inpatient unit will be enrolled and followed for hospital outcomes and resource utilization for the first seven days of hospitalization. The primary outcome will be prevalence of acute critical illness, which Global PARITY has defined as death within 48 hours of presentation to the hospital, including ED mortality; or admission/transfer to an HDU or ICU; or transfer to another institution for a higher level-of-care; or receiving critical care-level interventions (vasopressor infusion, invasive mechanical ventilation, non-invasive mechanical ventilation) regardless of location in the hospital, among children presenting to the hospital. Secondary outcomes include etiology of critical illness, in-hospital mortality, cause of death, resource utilization, length of hospital stay, and change in neurocognitive status. Data will be managed via REDCap, aggregated, and analyzed across sites.DiscussionThis study is expected to address the current gap in understanding of the burden, etiology, resource utilization and outcomes associated with pediatric acute and critical illness in RLS. These data are crucial to inform future research and clinical management decisions and to improve global pediatric hospital outcomes.

OBJECTIVE There is a paucity of information on pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) care in Asia and Latin America. In this study, the authors aimed to describe the clinical practices of emergency departments (EDs) participating in the Saline in Asia and Latin-America Neurotrauma in the Young (SALTY) study, by comparing designated trauma centers (DTCs) and nontrauma centers (NTCs) in their networks. METHODS The authors performed a site survey study on pediatric TBI management in the EDs in 14 countries. Two European centers joined other participating sites in Asia and Latin America. Questions were formulated after a critical review of current TBI guidelines and published surveys. The authors performed a descriptive analysis and stratified centers based on DTC status. RESULTS Of 24 responding centers (70.6%), 50.0% were DTCs, 70.8% had academic affiliations, and all centers were in urban settings. Patients were predominantly transferred to DTCs by centralized prehospital services compared to those sent to NTCs (83.3% vs 41.7%, p = 0.035). More NTCs received a majority of their patients directly from the trauma scene compared to DTCs (66.7% vs 25.0%, p = 0.041). Ten centers (41.7%) reported the use of a TBI management guideline, and 15 (62.5%) implemented CT protocols. Ten DTCs reported implementation of intervention strategies for suspected raised intracranial pressure (ICP) before conducting a CT scan, and 6 NTCs also followed this practice (83.3% vs 50.0%, p = 0.083). ED management for children with TBI was comparable between DTCs and NTCs in the following aspects: neuroimaging, airway management, ICP monitoring, fluid resuscitation, anticoagulant therapy, and serum glucose control. Hyperventilation therapy for raised ICP was used by 33.3% of sites. CONCLUSIONS This study evaluated pediatric TBI management and infrastructure among 24 centers. Limited differences in prehospital care and ED management for pediatric patients with TBI were observed between DTCs and NTCs. Both DTCs and NTCs showed variation in the implementation of current TBI management guidelines. There is an urgent need to investigate specific barriers to guideline implementation in these regions.

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