Find out all about pediatric intensive care, and how it is different from neonatal intensive care

Dr Manish Arya, consultant, PICU at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute in Mumbai explains that neonatal and pediatric intensive care is distinguished by “highly-specialised staff dedicated to critically-ill newborns in NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and critically-ill children upto 18 years of age in PICU (pediatric intensive care unit)”.

To alleviate certain fears in the minds of parents, he explains them both.

According to Dr Arya, NICU is staffed by neonatologists who are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to care for newborns. “This is mostly for perinatal care, when a high-risk pregnancy exists and dedicated neonatal-perinatal medical staff is available to the obstetrical team to deal with unexpected situations. Preterm babies, babies with respiratory distress at birth, babies with extremely low birth weight, with congenital defects that require surgery, and babies who require oxygen and ventilation are cared for in the NICU,” he says.

On the other hand, PICU has pediatric intensivists and pediatric critical care nurses, who are also certified in pediatric advanced life support, to provide medical and surgical specialities, he says.

“Just like NICU, a good PICU consists of staff that are sensitive to the needs of both parents and children, and are able to help ease the stress that illness and medical emergencies cause. PICU provides various pediatric subspecialty services to children of all ages,” the doctor adds.

Advanced PICU is equipped with facilities to deal with life-threatening situations, including extracorporeal life support like ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and RRT (renal replacement therapy). “These advanced life support provides children and their failing organs with means to recover in extreme situations. Apart from advanced monitoring and vital organ support, early start of nutrition is key for timely recovery and improved outcome,” says Dr Arya.

He states that one of the most important aspects of ICU care is counselling of family members. “As doctors, we always update them about the condition of the child, treatment plans, and also encourage and guide them in decision-making. Regular information sharing will help them to have a better understanding of the illness and have more trust in the physician,” he says.

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