Results For 72 children (31 girls, 41 boys), 91 decision-making meetings were organised. We identified 27.7% (20/72) disagreements or conflicts: 4 simple disagreements, 12 continuing disagreements and 4 conflicts. Five children had acute disease and 15 children had chronic disease. Source of disagreements was continuing LST in 19 cases (families wanted to continue aggressive treatment). In 1 case, the family wanted to stop treatments despite medical opinion (refusal of tracheotomy). Consequences of theses disagreements were continuation of treatments despite LST decisions in 12 cases. For 3 cases a compromise solution was found. Conclusion Disagreements are frequent in decisions to forgo LST (27,7%) and most of the child undergo treatments that are medically futile. Background and aims In a previous study on suffering of children during admission to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), we found that parents described suffering of their child mainly in relation to physical symptoms. In this study we evaluated if these children still have signs of suffering four years after the PICU admission and if the symptoms of suffering, as perceived by the parents, are different compared to the PICU period. Methods A structured audio taped interview with 15 parents of children four years after admission to a 20 bed level III PICU of a university teaching hospital to assess whether their child perceived to suffer and to identify perceived aspects of suffering. Results About 50% of the parents experienced 4 years after PICU admission suffering in their child. Parents of 8 children did not perceive suffering in their child. Parents indicated that the suffering during the PICU admission was due to physical and psychosocial factors. Psychosocial factors were related to the disease causing the admission to the PICU, the treatment and the hospital stay. Four years later the signs of suffering are related to communication, physical and mental retardation and being different from mates. Conclusions A child's admission to a PICU and its suffering not only cause suffering in the child during admission, but often suffering is still present four years after admission. Caregivers in paediatrics need to be aware of these perceived symptoms. In long-term follow up of critically ill children this phenomena needs attention. Background and aims Admission of a child to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a very stressful event for the child, but also for the parents. This might not only lead to suffering during admission, but also might have lasting effects. Little is known about the long term effects. In a previous study done during the stay of a child in a PICU we saw that a child's admission to a PICU causes suffering of parents. In this study we evaluated if there are still feelings of suffering in parents four years after PICU admission. Methods A structured audio taped interview with 15 parents of children four years after admission of the child to a 20 bed level III PICU of a university teaching hospital to assess whether pare...
Abstract. There are relatively few severe liver diseases in childhood. Biliary atresia is one of the most difficult. Early diagnosis of this disease is the basis of the subsequent treatment algorithm. In this article, we want to present the main criteria for diagnosing biliary tract pathology in newborns and young children, as well as draw the attention of pediatricians and neonatologists to the difficulties that arise in their diagnosis. Despite the rarity of these diseases, biliary atresia, as well as other rare liver diseases, should always be considered in the diagnosis of longterm hyperbilirubinemia. Due to early diagnosis and subsequent Kasai operation, the possibility of liver transplantation, in the last two decades, there has been significant progress in the treatment of children with biliary atresia.
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