EMG and duration of ventilatory support in children with Guillain-Barre syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Predicting length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) in children with Guillain-Barre syndrome may help decision-making at admission.


METHODS
Between 1996 and 2003, we attended to 30 children with Guillain-Barre syndrome who required ventilatory support in ICU. We prospectively collected different variables that could potentially predict prolonged length of stay and ventilatory support in ICU.


CONCLUSIONS
Using Cox proportional hazard analysis we found that lack of electrical excitability was the best predictor.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Instituto de Ortopedia Infantil Roosevelt, Bogota, Colombia. fortizc@unal.edu.co
Fernando
F
Ortiz-Corredor
Jorge
J
Díaz-Ruiz
Alvaro
A
Izquierdo-Bello
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors