Humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen in bronchiolitis reduces need for invasive ventilation but not intensive care admission.

Aim: To describe the changes to paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission patterns and ventilation requirements for children with bronchiolitis following the introduction of humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen outside the PICU.

Methods: Retrospective study comparing patients <24 months of age with a discharge diagnosis of bronchiolitis admitted to the PICU. A comparison was made between those before humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen use (year 2008) to those immediately following the introduction of humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen use (year 2011) and those following further consolidation of humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen use outside the PICU (year 2013).

Ventilation strategies in paediatric inhalation injury.

Inhalation injury increases morbidity and mortality in burns victims. While the diagnosis remains largely clinical, bronchoscopy is also helpful to diagnose and grade the severity of any injury. Inhalation injury results from direct thermal injury or chemical irritation of the respiratory tract, systemic toxicity from inhaled substances, or a combination of these factors.

Clinical course and outcome for critically ill children with Down syndrome: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Children with Down syndrome (DS) have several genetic anomalies within chromosome 21 which may influence their response to critical illness. We compared the intensive care course and outcome of children with DS versus those without.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study in four English paediatric intensive care units (ICUs) (2003-2009, n = 33,485).