AAP Grand Rounds 10:19-20 (2003)
© 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics
CRITICAL CARE
Long-term Care for Ventilator-dependent Children
Source: Gilgoff RL, Gilgoff IS. Long-term follow-up of home Gilgoff RL, Gilgoff IS. Long-term follow-up of home mechanical ventilation in young children with spinal cord injury and neuromuscular conditions. J Pediatr. 2003;142: 476–480.[Medline]
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The authors from Oakland Children’s Hospital and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Calif., report a case series of all children who were discharged between 1980 and 2000 needing home mechanical ventilation that was initiated before their 6th birthday. Forty-six patients were identified and 7 were lost to follow-up. Data were collected from initial discharge till June 2001. Of the 39 children, 28 were boys. Twenty-three children had neuromuscular diseases and 16 had spinal cord injury (14 C2 level, 1 C3, and 1 C4,5). Eight children died over the study period. They had, on average, been treated with a mechanical ventilator for 11 years. Half had spinal cord injuries and half had neuromuscular diseases. Seven lived at home on a ventilator for less than a year. Two died from ventilator disconnection. The average age when surviving children started mechanical ventilation was 25 months. Children treated at home had received mechanical support for an average of 8.5 years. Fifty-four percent of patients had 8 to 16 hours/day of nursing care, . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Wan C. Tsai, MD
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Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine, Pediatric and Adolescent Home Ventilator Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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Copyright © 2003 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
