Clinical description of pediatric oncology oncology patients with febrile neutropenia admitted to the intensive care unit of the national pediatric oncology unit

Abstract

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics of pediatric oncology patients who were diagnosed with Febrile Neutropenia (NF) admitted for the first time to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the National Pediatric Oncology Unit (UNOP). Methods: This is a descriptive and retrospective study where a total of 211 patients who developed NF and required admission to the ICU, between the years 2017 to 2021, were characterized. Results: The average age was 8 years, 46% were male and 54% female. 72.77% had a severe level of neutropenia and leukemia (81.99%) was the prominent oncologic diagnosis. Within all treatments, 38.39% of the patients were in the induction phase. An associated infectious agent was identified in 33.18%. Gram-negative bacteria were the most frequent causative infectious agent (13.74%). The mean length of stay in the ICU was 6.75±79 days. 91.62% of patients did not require mechanical ventilation and the most frequent complication associated with NF was sepsis in 65.88% of cases. Conclusion: Most cases of Febrile Neutropenia are severe, hematological malignancies (ALL and AML) are the most frequent underlying disease for the development of NF and Gram-negative bacteria are the most frequent causative infectious agent. Most patients do not require mechanical ventilation and the most frequently associated complications are Sepsis and Pneumonia.