Pediatric Neurocritical Care

Abstract

Pediatric neurocritical care is a multidisciplinary field of medicine. The main role of pediatric neurocritical care is improving outcomes in children with primary brain injury by various neurological diseases and limiting secondary brain injury through state-of-the-art critical care delivery and the support of integrating neuronal function. Recognition of neurological deficits in children is not easy even for an experienced clinician. The diseases such as stroke, cardiac arrest, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) have distinct clinical and pathophysiological characteristics that distinguish them from their adult features and prevent the direct translation of the adult experience to pediatric patients. In addition, the importance of the application of neuromonitoring and neuroprotective strategies in the pediatric intensive care unit has been aware in both primary neurological and primary non-neurological disease. Although much can be learned from the adult experience, there is a need for evidence-based guidelines in pediatric neurocritical care since there are differences in the circumstances that surround the emergence of neurocritical care in pediatrics.