RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Children with complex airway problems see multiple specialists. To improve outcomes and coordinate care, we developed a multidisciplinary Children's Airway Center. For children with tracheostomies, aspects of care targeted for improvement included optimizing initial hospital discharge, promoting effective communication between providers and caregivers, and avoiding tracheostomy complications. METHODS: The population includes children up to 21 years old with tracheostomies. The airway center team includes providers from pediatric pulmonology, pediatric otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, and pediatric gastroenterology. Improvement initiatives included enhanced educational strategies, weekly care conferences, institutional consensus guidelines and care plans, personalized clinic schedules, and standardized intervals between airway examinations. A patient database allowed for tracking outcomes over time. RESULTS: We initially identified 173 airway center patients including 123 with tracheostomies. The median number of new patients evaluated by the center team each year was 172. Median hospitalization after tracheostomy decreased from 37 days to 26 days for new tracheostomy patients <1 year old discharged from the hospital. A median of 24 care plans was evaluated at weekly conferences. Consensus protocol adherence increased likelihood of successful decannulation from 68% to 86% of attempts. The median interval of 8 months between airway examinations aligned with published recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: For children with tracheostomies, our Children's Airway Center met and sustained goals of optimizing hospitalization, promoting communication, and avoiding tracheostomy complications by initiating targeted improvements in a multidisciplinary team setting. A multidisciplinary approach to management of these patients can yield measurable improvements in important outcomes.
Asunto(s)
Unidades Hospitalarias/organización & administración , Comunicación Interdisciplinaria , Grupo de Atención al Paciente/organización & administración , Mejoramiento de la Calidad/organización & administración , Traqueostomía , Adolescente , Niño , Preescolar , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Tiempo de Internación/estadística & datos numéricos , Masculino , Evaluación de Procesos y Resultados en Atención de Salud , Alta del Paciente/normas , Complicaciones Posoperatorias/prevención & control , Relaciones Profesional-Familia , Evaluación de Programas y Proyectos de Salud , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using serial bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) to characterize the course of cell damage and inflammation in the airways of pediatric patients with acute burn or inhalation injury. This was a prospective, longitudinal, descriptive pilot study conducted at the Burn and Pediatric Intensive Care Units in a tertiary care medical center. Six consecutively intubated and mechanically ventilated pediatric patients with acute inhalational injuries were studied. Serial BALF specimens from clinically indicated bronchoscopies were used to measure DNA and cytokine levels. BALF DNA levels for the six pediatric burn subjects were the highest within the first 72 hours after burn injury and declined thereafter. At the early stages after injury, BALF DNA levels (median [min, max] 3789 [1170, 11,917] ng/ml) were similar to those in adult burn patients and pediatric cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis patients and was higher than those in pediatric recurrent pneumonia patients. BALF DNA levels in children and adults with inhalation injury correlated significantly with BALF interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and transforming growth factor-ß1 levels. The patient with the most severe early visible airway mucosal damage and soot pattern at bronchoscopy, as well as the most extensive burns, also had the highest average early BALF DNA level (11,917 ng/ml) and the longest ventilator course and hospital stay. Procedures were well tolerated. In children with acute burn and inhalational injury, airway cellular damage and inflammation (reflected in high BALF DNA levels) appear to peak during the first 72 hours after burn or inhalation injury followed by a slow decline. Serial analysis of factors in airway secretions is feasible and has the potential to reveal important pathophyisiologic pathways and therapeutic targets for the treatment of acute inhalational injuries.
Asunto(s)
Líquido del Lavado Bronquioalveolar/química , Quemaduras por Inhalación/patología , ADN/análisis , Mediadores de Inflamación/análisis , Adolescente , Análisis de Varianza , Broncoscopía , Niño , Preescolar , Citocinas/análisis , Femenino , Humanos , Unidades de Cuidado Intensivo Pediátrico , Intubación Intratraqueal , Tiempo de Internación/estadística & datos numéricos , Modelos Lineales , Estudios Longitudinales , Masculino , Proyectos Piloto , Estudios Prospectivos , Respiración Artificial , Índice de Severidad de la EnfermedadRESUMEN
RATIONALE: Inhaled tobramycin has been shown to transiently clear Pseudomonas from lower airways in early cystic fibrosis (CF), but does not markedly reduce lung inflammation, a key factor in disease progression. OBJECTIVE: Test the hypothesis that systemic antibiotics are more effective than inhaled antibiotics for reducing lower airways inflammation. METHODS: Clinically stable CF children with recent Pseudomonas were randomized to receive 4 weeks of inhaled tobramycin or 2 weeks of systemic antibiotics (intravenous ceftazidime and tobramycin). Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained just before and 4-6 weeks after treatment. The primary outcome was change in % neutrophils in lavage fluid. RESULTS: Fifteen subjects (inhaled = 6, systemic = 9) completed the protocol. Three Systemic Group subjects could not have central venous access established and were treated with oral ciprofloxacin (plus inhaled tobramycin) for 2 weeks as an alternative "systemic" regimen, per protocol. Groups were well matched in age, markers of disease severity, and initial % neutrophils. The Systemic Group showed a modest median change in percent neutrophils (-7%) which was not statistically significant compared to inhaled (+5.4%, P = 0.07). However, the Systemic Group had significantly greater reductions in total cells (-50% vs. -3%, P < 0.01) and neutrophils (-74% vs. -10%, P = 0.02) per ml lavage fluid. Both groups had reduced bacterial quantity after treatment, but there was no significant difference between groups. CONCLUSIONS: In clinically stable children with CF, systemic antibiotics result in greater short-term reduction in lower airways inflammation than inhaled antibiotics.
Asunto(s)
Antibacterianos/administración & dosificación , Fibrosis Quística/inmunología , Neumonía Bacteriana/tratamiento farmacológico , Infecciones por Pseudomonas/tratamiento farmacológico , Administración por Inhalación , Líquido del Lavado Bronquioalveolar , Niño , Preescolar , Fibrosis Quística/microbiología , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Infusiones Intravenosas , Masculino , Neumonía Bacteriana/inmunología , Neumonía Bacteriana/microbiologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Little is known about the school experience of children with tracheostomy tubes. These children may represent a population that qualifies for special services in school. Understanding how tracheostomy affects school-aged children may provide information needed to develop programs that provide these children with invaluable experiences. OBJECTIVE: To understand what children with tracheostomies experience in school as it relates to tracheostomy care and how their condition affects academic achievement and social adjustment. METHODS: We identified a cohort of 38 eligible school-aged children with indwelling tracheostomy tubes for ongoing upper airway obstruction through the North Carolina Children's Airway Center. A questionnaire was developed to assess support of their medical condition throughout the school day. Twenty-three patients responded to the questionnaire. RESULTS: School experience for a child with a tracheostomy varied. Approximately half the children attended special needs classes, the other half were in mainstream classrooms. Speech services and Passy-Muir valves were used in 43% and 57% of cases, respectively. Over half the students were excluded from physical activity because of the tracheostomy. Most students missed at least 10 days of school for medical care in an academic year. Fifty percent of the students reported attending schools where school personnel had no training in tracheostomy care. In some cases, a trained nurse accompanied the child to school to help with tracheostomy care. In other cases, the child coped with tracheostomy care alone. CONCLUSIONS: As children with special medical needs are increasingly incorporated into mainstream schools, it is important to understand the potential hurdles they face in managing tracheostomies. In particular, school personnel should have the ability to provide basic care for students with tracheostomies. Student speech and educational outcomes require further investigation and analysis.