More than 230,000 children are admitted annually to the U.S. pediatric intensive care units (PICUs)1. The PICU experience often involves difficult procedures and can be physically and emotionally challenging for children.
While some children fully recover from their illness or injury and treatment, others experience long-term physical, social, emotional, and/or cognitive impacts, which can be described as Post-Intensive Care Syndrome in pediatrics (PICS-p). Children with PICS-p experience problems that are related to physical strength, coordination, thinking, and/or mental and emotional health.
Children with PICS-p experience problems that are related to physical strength, coordination, thinking, and/or mental and emotional health.
Below are common impacts a child may have after being in the PICU.
Some children who were on the breathing machine (ventilator) may have difficulty with bottle feedings, drinking or eating food, or speaking like they did prior to getting sick.
The following impacts are not uncommon in children after they have been sick in the PICU:
After being in the PICU, a child may experience emotional or behavioral changes such as:
Some children may have problems with anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, or depression after being sick in the ICU.
