Browsing by Author "Nitu, Mara"

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    Health Care Resource Utilization for Children Requiring Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation via Tracheostomy
    (AARC, 2020-08) Rogerson, Colin; Beardsley, Andrew; Nitu, Mara; Cristea, Ioana; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: More children are discharged from ICUs on prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) via tracheostomy than ever before. These patients have long hospitalizations with high resource expenditure. Our objective was to describe the characteristics of these resource-intensive patients and to evaluate their costs of care. We hypothesized that subjects requiring PMV for neurologic diagnoses would have higher costs, longer hospital length of stay (LOS), and worse outcomes than those with primarily respiratory diagnoses. METHODS: We identified 50 pediatric subjects between January 2015 and December 2017 at our institution who had a new tracheostomy placement and were enrolled in a home mechanical ventilation program. Collected data included demographics, indication for tracheostomy, LOS, hospital costs, readmissions, and outcomes. We also compared subjects who required PMV for respiratory diagnoses versus neurologic diagnoses. RESULTS: Of 50 subjects, 41 were < 12 months old at the time of tracheostomy. Thirty-four subjects had a respiratory diagnosis requiring PMV, 14 had a neurologic diagnosis, and 2 had a cardiac diagnosis. The total initial hospitalization cost was $31,133,582, which averages to $622,671 per subject. The average initial hospitalization LOS was 155 d. Respiratory subjects had longer LOS and higher average costs than neurologic subjects. The average readmission rate was 2.16 per subject in the first year after discharge, and the average readmission cost per subject was $73,144. Eight subjects died in the first year after discharge, and 4 suffered a serious morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: This descriptive study evaluated the social and medical characteristics of subjects being discharged from the pediatric ICU with PMV via tracheostomy, as well as quantified the financial impact of their care. Those requiring PMV for neurologic diagnoses had shorter hospital LOS and lower hospital costs than those with respiratory diagnoses. No definitive differences in outcomes were found.
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    Intermittent Bolus versus Continuous Infusion of Propofol for Deep Sedation during ABR/Nuclear Medicine Studies
    (Thieme, 2017-09) Ahmed, Sheikh Sohail; Hicks, Shawn; Slaven, James E.; Nitu, Mara; Biostatistics, School of Public Health
    Objective  A comparison of intermittent bolus (IB) versus continuous infusion of propofol for deep sedation. Material and Methods  A retrospective review of patients sedated for Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)/nuclear medicine studies between September 2008 and February 2015. A ketamine bolus (0.5 mg/kg < 20 kg, 0.25 mg/kg > 20 kg) followed by propofol bolus of 1 mg/kg over 2 minutes. In the IB group, maintenance of deep sedation was with incremental bolus of 10 to 20 mg of propofol. In continuous infusion group (CG), maintenance was with a continuous infusion of 83 mcg/kg/min of propofol. Results  Of the 326 cases completed, 181 were in CG group and 145 were in IB group. There were no statistical differences in patient's age, weight, and American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) classification. The cardiovascular and respiratory parameters in the two groups were not different statistically. Mean total propofol dose was higher in CG group versus IB group (CG 7.6 mg ± 3.6 mg, IB 6.5 mg ± 3.6 mg; p  = 0.008). Procedure time in CG group was longer by 8 minutes compared with IB group (CG 49.8 min ± 25.4 min versus 42.3 min ± 19.2 min; p  = .003). CG group has both shorter recovery time (CG 8.1 min ± 4.7 min versus IB 10.0 min ± 8.5 min; p  = 0.01) and discharge time. Conclusion  Satisfactory sedation and completion of the procedure was accomplished with both sedation protocols.
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    Pediatric Ethics and Communication Excellence (PEACE) Rounds: Decreasing Moral Distress and Patient Length of Stay in the PICU
    (Springer, 2017-03) Wocial, Lucia; Ackerman, Veda; Leland, Brian; Benneyworth, Brian; Patel, Vinit; Tong, Yan; Nitu, Mara; School of Nursing
    This paper describes a practice innovation: the addition of formal weekly discussions of patients with prolonged PICU stay to reduce healthcare providers’ moral distress and decrease length of stay for patients with life-threatening illnesses. We evaluated the innovation using a pre/post intervention design measuring provider moral distress and comparing patient outcomes using retrospective historical controls. Physicians and nurses on staff in our pediatric intensive care unit in a quaternary care children's hospital participated in the evaluation. There were 60 patients in the interventional group and 66 patients in the historical control group. We evaluated the impact of weekly meetings (PEACE rounds) to establish goals of care for patients with longer than 10 days length of stay in the ICU for a year. Moral distress was measured intermittently and reported moral distress thermometer (MDT) scores fluctuated. "Clinical situations" represented the most frequent contributing factor to moral distress. Post intervention, overall moral distress scores, measured on the moral distress scale revised (MDS-R), were lower for respondents in all categories (non-significant), and on three specific items (significant). Patient outcomes before and after PEACE intervention showed a statistically significant decrease in PRISM indexed LOS (4.94 control vs 3.37 PEACE, p = 0.015), a statistically significant increase in both code status changes DNR (11 % control, 28 % PEACE, p = 0.013), and in-hospital death (9 % control, 25 % PEACE, p = 0.015), with no change in patient 30 or 365 day mortality. The addition of a clinical ethicist and senior intensivist to weekly inter-professional team meetings facilitated difficult conversations regarding realistic goals of care. The study demonstrated that the PEACE intervention had a positive impact on some factors that contribute to moral distress and can shorten PICU length of stay for some patients.
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    Propofol-Based Procedural Sedation with or without Low-Dose Ketamine in Children
    (Thieme, 2016-03) Ahmed, Sheikh Sohail; Nitu, Mara; Hicks, Shawn; Hedlund, Lauren; Slaven, James E.; Rigby, Mark R.; Biostatistics, School of Public Health
    Objective Examine comparative dosing, efficacy, and safety of propofol alone or with an initial, subdissociative dose of ketamine approach for deep sedation. Background Propofol is a sedative-hypnotic agent used increasingly in children for deep sedation. As a nonanalgesic agent, use in procedures (e.g., bone marrow biopsies/aspirations, renal biopsies) is debated. Our intensivist procedural sedation team sedates using one of two protocols: propofol-only (P-O) approach or age-adjusted dose of 0.25 or 0.5 mg/kg intravenous ketamine (K + P) prior to propofol. With either approach, an initial induction dose of 1 mg/kg propofol is recommended and then intermittent dosing throughout the procedure to achieve adequate sedation to safely and effectively perform the procedure. Approach: Retrospective evaluation of 754 patients receiving either the P-O or K + P approach to sedation. Results A total of 372 P-O group patients and 382 K + P group. Mean age (7.3 ± 5.5 years for P-O; 7.3 ± 5.4 years for K + P) and weight (30.09 ± 23.18 kg for P-O; 30.14 ± 24.45 kg for K + P) were similar in both groups (p = NS). All patients successfully completed procedures with a 16% combined incidence of hypoxia (SPO2 < 90%). Procedure time was 3 minutes longer for K + P group than P-O group (18.68 ± 15.13 minutes for K + P; 15.11 ± 12.77 minutes for P-O; p < 0.01), yet recovery times were 5 minutes shorter (17.04 ± 9.36 minutes for K + P; 22.17 ± 12.84 minutes for P-O; p < 0.01). Mean total dose of propofol was significantly greater in P-O than in K + P group (0.28 ± 0.20 mg/kg/min for K + P; 0.40 ± 0.26 mg/kg/min for P-O; p < 0.0001), and might explain the shorter recovery time. Conclusion Both sedation approaches proved to be well tolerated and equally effective. Addition of ketamine was associated with reduction in the recovery time, probably explained by the statistically significant decrease in the propofol dose.
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    Retrospective Evaluation of the Epidemiology and Practice Variation of Dexmedetomidine Use in Invasively Ventilated Pediatric Intensive Care Admissions, 2007-2013
    (2015) Benneyworth, Brian D.; Downs, Stephen M.; Nitu, Mara; Department of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine
    OBJECTIVES: The study assessed dexmedetomidine utilization and practice variation over time in ventilated pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients; and evaluated differences in hospital outcomes between high- and low-dexmedetomidine utilization hospitals. STUDY DESIGN: This serial cross-sectional analysis used administrative data from PICU admissions in the pediatric health information system (37 US tertiary care pediatric hospitals). Included admissions from 2007 to 2013 had simultaneous dexmedetomidine and invasive mechanical ventilation charges, <18 years of age, excluding neonates. Patient and hospital characteristics were compared as well as hospital-level severity-adjusted indexed length of stay (LOS), charges, and mortality. RESULTS: The utilization of dexmedetomidine increased from 6.2 to 38.2 per 100 ventilated PICU patients among pediatric hospitals. Utilization ranged from 3.8 to 62.8 per 100 in 2013. Few differences in patient demographics and no differences in hospital-level volume/severity of illness measures between high- and low-utilization hospitals occurred. No differences in hospital-level, severity-adjusted indexed outcomes (LOS, charges, and mortality) were found. CONCLUSION: Wide practice variation in utilization of dexmedetomidine for ventilated PICU patients existed even as use has increased sixfold. Higher utilization was not associated with increased hospital charges or reduced hospital LOS. Further work should define the expected outcome benefits of dexmedetomidine and its appropriate use.