56. Echocardiography in PICU; the heart sees what is invisible to the eye

Echocardiography has become an indispensible bedside diagnostic tool in the realm of pediatric intensive care units (PICU). It has proven to be an influential factor in the formula of clinical decision making. The intent of this study is to delineate the impact of echocardiography on the management of critically ill pediatric patients in our PICU. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Tertiary five- bed PICU in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman. Patients: We reviewed all patients admitted to our PICU from January 2011 to December 2012. Intervention: Bedside transthoracic echocardiography (echo) during the period of stay in the PICU. Results: Over a-24-month period, 424 patients were admitted in our PICU. One hundred and one clinically indicated transthoracic echoes were performed. 82% of these echoes had new findings (N: 82) that significantly impacted the clinical decision of patient management namely altered drug therapy and procedure, whereas no difference in the management was yielded in the remaining 18% of the studied cases. Conclusions: Echocardiography had a significant impact on the management of PICU patients. Such salutary effect was consequently reflected on the outcome. Pediatric intensivists are encouraged to acquire such bed side skill.