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Conditions & Treatments - Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Nov 17, 2022
When your kids have to go to the hospital, it is stressful enough as it is. Things get more worrying if they have to be sent to PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). Having a basic understanding of what PICU is and why your child has to be admitted in PICU helps you be better prepared for the treatment and recovery of your child.
What is the PICU?
The PICU is a specific section of the hospital that is meant for providing the best possible medical care to sick children. PICU in Hyderabad at Rainbow Children’s Hospital is different from other sections of the hospital since it allows continuous monitoring and intensive nursing care. Heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing can be constantly monitored at PICU. In the PICU, medical staff can provide treatments that cannot be provided in other parts of the hospital. Some of the therapies provided in the PICU are intensive, such as ventilators or breathing machines and some medicines that can only be given under close supervision.
Who is admitted to the PICU?
A child who is severely ill and requires intensive care is admitted to the PICU. The medical needs of such patients cannot be met on the main medical floors of the hospital.
Children admitted in the PICU can include those having serious breathing troubles from asthma, specific heart conditions, serious infections, diabetic complications, and those involved in near-drowning incidents or automobile accidents.
In some cases, children are stable enough, in the beginning, to be cared for on the normal medical floors of the hospital. However, if they get more acutely ill, they might have to be transferred to the PICU. After a major surgery, medical care is provided to children in the PICU for multiple days.
The length of stay of your child in the PICU depends on their conditions. Some children need to stay for only one day while others are required to stay for several weeks and sometimes even months. If you have any questions, make sure to consult the best pediatrician in Hyderabad at Rainbow Children’s Hospital or the nurse taking care of your child.
Conditions treated in PICU
In the PICU, medical care is provided to children who are having a kidney, liver, heart, bone marrow, or intestine transplant. Intensive care is also provided to children after surgery. Treatment is provided for a broad range of conditions, including:
Acute liver or kidney failure: If your child has kidney failure, his or her kidney is unable to remove sufficient waste from the blood of your child and
control the salt levels. Poisoning or injury may cause acute kidney failure. In the case of liver failure, the liver of the child is unable to filter blood and
support the requirements of the body. If a child who has never had problems with lever suddenly falls ill, he or she might end up having acute liver failure.
Brain tumors: These are abnormal cell growth within the skull and there are several types of pediatric brain tumors. All these types need to be treated since
they can cause health problems. While some tumors are cancerous, others aren’t.
Lung or breathing problems: Some lung or breathing problems need to be taken care of in the PICU, including:
A serious flare-up of asthma
Bronchiolitis, or infection of the airways leading to the lungs
Acute respiratory failure, which happens when oxygen isn’t getting sufficiently into the blood and carbon dioxide isn’t getting sufficiently out of the
blood
Foreign body aspiration, choking on some object
Blood disorders and cancers: In case of blood disorders or cancers, the treatment has a serious impact on children’s body, which is why they need to stay
in the PICU.
Craniofacial defects: These are issues with the face or skull and they can be complex, requiring treatment with surgery. Children may have to stay in the
PICU while recovering from their surgery, or if they have breathing problems from a craniofacial condition.
Metabolic problems like diabetes: Problems with metabolism is about the way the child’s body derives energy from food. Metabolic problems can cause
a build-up of toxins in children’s bodies, preventing them from getting sufficient nutrients. In the case of diabetes, blood sugar levels get too high because of
the body’s inability to make sufficient insulin or improper response to insulin.
Dr. Anupama Y
Senior Consultant – Pediatric Intensivist and pediatrcian
Rainbow Children's Hospital, Banjara Hills
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