Objectives: To critically review, analyze, and synthesize the literature on parent medical traumatic stress from a child’s critical illness requiring PICU admission and its association with outcomes of parent mental and physical health, and family functioning. Data Sources: Systematic literature search of Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, and PsychInfo. Study Selection: Two reviewers identified peer-reviewed published articles with the following criteria: 1) published between January 1, 1980, and August 1, 2018; 2) published in English; 3) study population of parents of children with a PICU admission; and 4) quantitative studies examining factors associated with outcomes of parent mental health, parent physical health, or family functioning. Data Extraction: Literature search yielded 2,476 articles, of which 23 studies met inclusion criteria. Study data extracted included study characteristics, descriptive statistics of parent outcomes after critical illness, and variables associated with parent and family outcomes. Data Synthesis: Studies examined numerous variables associated with parent and family outcomes and used multiple survey measures. These variables were categorized according to their phase in the Integrative Trajectory Model of Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress, which included peri-trauma, acute medical care, and ongoing care or discharge from care. The majority of objective elements of a child’s illness, such as severity of illness and length of hospitalization, did not have a clear relationship with parent and family outcomes. However, familial preexisting factors, a parent’s subjective experience in the PICU, and family life stressors after discharge were often associated with parent and family outcomes. Conclusions: This systematic literature review suggests that parent and family outcomes after pediatric critical illness are impacted by familial preexisting factors, a parent’s subjective experience in the PICU, and family life stressors after discharge. Developing parent interventions focused on modifying the parent’s subjective experience in the PICU could be an effective approach to improve parent outcomes.

Objectives: To quantify home care needs, healthcare utilization, and 2-year mortality after pediatric critical illness due to respiratory failure, and evaluate the impact of new morbidity and abnormal function at hospital discharge on resource use and outcomes. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Quaternary care PICU. Patients: Patients less than or equal to 18 years with respiratory failure from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014. Measurements and Main Results: Patient demographics, hospitalization characteristics, and healthcare utilization were quantified and compared according to morbidity development and discharge functional status. Multivariable regression methods evaluated 2-year readmission rates and mortality by morbidity development and discharge functional status. Of 163 patients, the median age was 2.1 years (interquartile range, 0.6–10.9 yr), 61 (37.4%) had a comorbidity, and 73 (44.8%) had abnormal function at admission. Median ventilation duration was 6.0 days (interquartile range, 3.0–11.7 d), and median PICU and hospital length of stay were 8 (interquartile range, 4–15) and 14 days (interquartile range, 8–23 d), respectively. At hospital discharge, eight of 163 (4.9%) had died, and 14 of 163 (8.6%) had a new morbidity. Of the surviving 155 patients at hospital discharge, 87 (56.1%) had abnormal function, 120 (77.4%) had new medications, 24 (15.5%) had new medical devices, and 43 (27.7%) had new home care equipment. Cumulative 2-year mortality was 14 of 163 (8.6%) with six of 163 (3.7%) occurring after discharge. Within 2 years, 81 of 155 of patients (52.2%) were readmitted, often (58/81, 71.6%) to the PICU. Abnormal function at discharge was associated with elevated odds of readmission to the hospital (odds ratio, 1.49; 1.28–1.74; p < 0.0001) and PICU (odds ratio, 1.47; 1.27–1.71; p < 0.0001) within 2 years. Conclusions: After critical illness, children have significant new healthcare burdens heretofore unrecognized. Abnormal functional status at hospital discharge was associated with increased healthcare utilization up to 2 years thereafter.

Case series Patients: Male, 7-year-old • Female, 6-year-old • Male, 5-year-old Final Diagnosis: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) Symptoms: Heart failure Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Pediatrics and Neonatology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection commonly presents as fever, cough, and shortness of breath in adults. Children are thought to have milder respiratory symptoms and to recover more quickly. We describe a new presentation of COVID-19 infection in children consisting of multisystem inflammation with decreased left ventricular function and evidence of lung disease. Case Reports: Three children presented with fever, conjunctivitis, dry and cracked lips, rash, and/or cervical lymphadenopathy for at least 5 days. Two of these children required mechanical ventilation, and 1 of the 2 needed extracorpo-real membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to support cardiorespiratory function. All of these children had moderate to severe hyponatremia and lymphopenia, which is usually seen in COVID-19. They were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin and high-dose aspirin. All of the children recovered. Conclusions: Early recognition of children with multisystem inflammation is important because they are at increased risk for deterioration. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and aspirin was used because this regimen has been shown to be beneficial in vasculitis of Kawasaki disease. The development of shock due to cardiac involvement may require ECMO.

To identify a PICU Core Outcome Measurement Set (PICU COMS), a set of measures that can be used to evaluate the PICU Core Outcome Set (PICU COS) domains in PICU patients and their families. DESIGN:A modified Delphi consensus process.

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Background Intensivists are increasingly attuned to the postdischarge outcomes experienced by families because patient recovery and family outcomes are interdependent after childhood critical illness. In this scoping review of international contemporary literature, we describe the evidence of family effects and functioning postpediatric intensive care unit (PICU) as well as outcome measures used to identify strengths and weaknesses in the literature. Methods We reviewed all articles published between 1970 and 2017 in PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), or the Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry. Our search used a combination of terms for the concept of “critical care/illness” combined with additional terms for the prespecified domains of social, cognitive, emotional, physical, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and family functioning. Results We identified 71 articles reporting on the postPICU experience of more than 2400 parents and 3600 families of PICU survivors in 8 countries. These articles used 101 different metrics to assess the various aspects of family outcomes; 34 articles also included open-ended interviews. Overall, most families experienced significant disruption in at least five out of six of our family outcomes subdomains, with themes of decline in mental health, physical health, family cohesion, and family finances identified. Almost all articles represented relatively small, single-center, or disease-specific observational studies. There was a disproportionate representation of families of higher socioeconomic status (SES) and Caucasian race, and there was much more data about mothers compared to fathers. There was also very limited information regarding outcomes for siblings and extended family members after a child's PICU stay. Conclusions Significant opportunities remain for research exploring family functioning after PICU discharge. We recommend that future work include more diverse populations with respect to the critically ill child as well as family characteristics, include more intervention studies, and enrich existing knowledge about outcomes for siblings and extended family.

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ObjectivePost-traumatic growth is the experience of a positive change after a traumatic event. Our objective is to characterize the factors associated with post-traumatic growth in parents after a child's pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission.Study designA cross-sectional survey study examining post-traumatic growth and select independent variables in parents 1 year after a child's ≥72 h PICU admission for an acute illness or injury. The study was completed in parents of children discharge alive from a tertiary care PICU from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. A mixed-effects linear regression model was built to evaluate the association of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, resiliency, family function, and child function with post-traumatic growth.ResultsEighty-two parents of 52 children discharged alive in 2017 completed the survey. Fifty-two percent were ≥35 years and 64.3% were mothers. Median age of their children was 2.8 years (IQR 0.5–11.3) with a median hospital stay of 12 Days (IQR 6–20). Moderate-to-high levels of post-traumatic growth occurred in 67.1% of parents. Increased hospital length of stay (β Coeff 0.85; p = 0.004, 95% CI 0.27, 1.43) and parent post-traumatic stress symptoms (β Coeff 1.04; p = 0.006, 95% CI 0.29, 1.78) were associated with increased post-traumatic growth, and increased parent depression symptoms (β Coeff −1.96; p = 0.015; 95% CI −3.54, −0.38) with decreased post-traumatic growth.ConclusionLonger child hospital stays and increased parent post-traumatic stress symptoms were associated with increased post-traumatic growth, while increased depression was associated with less post-traumatic growth. The impact of future PICU parent psychosocial interventions on parents may be best assessed using a dual outcome focused on both reducing negative mental health symptoms while concurrently promoting skills to facilitate parent adaptation and post-traumatic growth.