Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of ICU delirium in children less than 18 years old that underwent cardiac surgery within the last 30 days. The secondary aim of the study was to identify risk factors associated with ICU delirium in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgical patients. Design: A 1-day, multicenter point-prevalence study of delirium in pediatric postoperative cardiac surgery patients. Setting: Twenty-seven pediatric cardiac and general critical care units caring for postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients in North America. Patients: All children less than 18 years old hospitalized in the cardiac critical care units at 06:00 on a randomly selected, study day. Interventions: Eligible children were screened for delirium using the Cornell Assessment of Pediatric Delirium by the study team in collaboration with the bedside nurse. Measurement and Main Results: Overall, 181 patients were enrolled and 40% (n = 73) screened positive for delirium. There were no statistically significant differences in patient demographic information, severity of defect or surgical procedure, past medical history, or postoperative day between patients screening positive or negative for delirium. Our bivariate analysis found those patients screening positive had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (12.8 vs 5.1 d; p = 0.02); required more vasoactive support (55% vs 26%; p = 0.0009); and had a higher number of invasive catheters (4 vs 3 catheters; p = 0.001). Delirium-positive patients received more total opioid exposure (1.80 vs 0.36 mg/kg/d of morphine equivalents; p < 0.001), did not have an ambulation or physical therapy schedule (p = 0.02), had not been out of bed in the previous 24 hours (p < 0.0002), and parents were not at the bedside at time of data collection (p = 0.008). In the mixed-effects logistic regression analysis of modifiable risk factors, the following variables were associated with a positive delirium screen: 1) pain score, per point increase (odds ratio, 1.3; 1.06–1.60); 2) total opioid exposure, per mg/kg/d increase (odds ratio, 1.35; 1.06–1.73); 3) SBS less than 0 (odds ratio, 4.01; 1.21–13.27); 4) pain medication or sedative administered in the previous 4 hours (odds ratio, 3.49; 1.32–9.28); 5) no progressive physical therapy or ambulation schedule in their medical record (odds ratio, 4.40; 1.41–13.68); and 6) parents not at bedside at time of data collection (odds ratio, 2.31; 1.01–5.31). Conclusions: We found delirium to be a common problem after cardiac surgery with several important modifiable risk factors.

A multidisciplinary, multiprofessional, goal-directed mobilization protocol achieved goal mobilization in more than 50% of patients in this pediatric intensive care unit. Undermobilized patients were older, less ill, and more likely to have mobilization barriers at the patient and provider level.

A B S T R A C TBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Early mobilization of critically ill children may improve outcomes, but parent refusal of mobilization therapies is an identified barrier. We aimed to evaluate parent stress related to mobilization therapy in the PICU. METHODS:We conducted a cross-sectional survey to measure parent stress and a retrospective chart review of child characteristics. Parents or legal guardians of children admitted for $1 night to an academic, tertiary-care PICU who were proficient in English or Spanish were surveyed. Parents were excluded if their child's death was imminent, child abuse or neglect was suspected, or there was a contraindication to child mobilization. RESULTS:We studied 120 parent-child dyads. Parent mobilization stress was correlated with parent PICU-related stress (r s [119] 5 0.489; P # .001) and overall parent stress (r s [110] 5 0.272; P 5 .004). Increased parent mobilization stress was associated with higher levels of parent education, a lower baseline child functional status, more strenuous mobilization activities, and mobilization therapies being conducted by individuals other than the children's nurses (all P , .05). Parents reported mobilization stress from medical equipment (79%), subjective pain and fragility concerns (75%), and perceived dyspnea (24%). Parent-reported positive aspects of mobilization were clinical improvement of the child (70%), parent participation in care (46%), and increased alertness (38%).CONCLUSIONS: Parent mobilization stress was correlated with other measures of parent stress and was associated with child-, parent-, and therapy-related factors. Parents identified positive and stressful aspects of mobilization therapy that can guide clinical care and educational interventions aimed at reducing parent stress and improving the implementation of mobilization therapies.

Background: Tracheal intubation (TI) practice across pediatric emergency departments (EDs) has not been comprehensively reported. We aim to describe TI practice and outcomes in pediatric EDs in contrast to those in intensive are units (ICUs) and use the data to identify quality improvement targets. Methods: Consecutive TI encounters from pediatric EDs and ICUs in the National Emergency Airway Registry for Children (NEAR4KIDS) database from 2015 to 2018 were analyzed for patient, provider, and practice characteristics and outcomes: adverse TI-associated events (TIAEs), oxygen desaturation (SpO 2 < 80%), and procedural success. A multivariable model identified factors associated with TIAEs in the ED. Results: A total of 756 TIs in 13 pediatric EDs and 12,512 TIs in 51 pediatric/cardiac ICUs were reported. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) patient age for ED TIs was higher (32 [7-108] months) than that for ICU TIs (15 [3-91] months; p < 0.001).