
Gastrointestinal Issues in Critically Ill Children
Author(s) -
Praveen Khilnani,
Nidhi Rawal,
Chandrasekhar Singha
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
indian journal of critical care medicine/indian journal of critical care medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.317
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1998-359X
pISSN - 0972-5229
DOI - 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23637
Subject(s) - medicine , critically ill , intensive care medicine , critical illness
Due to lack of uniform diagnostic criteria, gastrointestinal (GI) complications in critically ill occur with variable frequency, 1 and overall incidence of such complications seems to be less in children compared to adults. Major risk factors are use of catecholamines, sedatives, and muscle relaxants in patients with shock. GI dysmotility in critically ill patients is the main reason behind abdominal distension, increased gastric residual volume, and constipation. GI bleeding is described in about 10% of patients with critical illness with about 1.6% have clinically significant bleeding, particularly in patients with coagulopathy, respiratory failure, or PRISM scores >10. 2 In this review, the most common GI issues encountered in children will be discussed as mentioned earlier. In addition management of acute GI bleeding will also be discussed. How to cite this article: Khilnani P, Rawal N, Singha C. Gastrointestinal Issues in Critically Ill Children. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(Suppl 4):S201-S204.