Intensive care course following liver transplantation in children.
We report the postoperative intensive care course of 16 children who underwent 18 orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) procedures in London, Ontario and compare this experience in our developing transplant center with that reported from the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Assisted ventilation was required in all children, with six requiring ventilation for greater than three days. Six children required positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) therapy and hypertension was common. Physiologic stability index score was initially high in all patients, but fell on subsequent days. Intensive care survival was 100% with 69% long-term survival, which compared favorably with the information from Pittsburgh. Septic complications, despite immunosuppressive therapy were rare, but hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia were common.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications