Pediatric Critical Care
Critical Care Services for Kids
The Children's Hospital of Michigan is Southeast Michigan's major referral center for children who need medical and surgical care. Many of these patients spend time in the intensive care unit (ICU), which also receives referrals from northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
The intensive care unit is a 48-bed unit with four additional extension beds available for critically ill or chronically ventilated patients. Admissions to the ICU include but are not limited to acute respiratory failure; fulminant infectious disease and sepsis; traumatic head injury; status epilepticus; oncologic complications including care of children following bone marrow or stem cell transplant; inborn errors of metabolism; and poisonings. The ICU also provides post-operative care following high-risk surgical procedures including neurosurgery, orthopedic spinal surgery, airway reconstruction and surgery for complex congenital heart disease.
The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at Children’s Hospital of Michigan provides up to 16 designated beds with 24 hour attending-level staff dedicated to comprehensive, multidisciplinary cardiac care for patients with congenital and acquired heart disease —including all forms of cardiomyopathy — from birth through early adulthood.
Services include:
- Comprehensive care for fetal cardiac diagnosis and in some cases fetal cardiac treatment.
- A dedicated team of cardiac intensivists, cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, cardiac nurse practitioners, anesthesiologists and physician assistants.
- An Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program
- Cardiac imaging including CT and MRI
- Temporary and permanent ventricular assist device services
- Electrophysiology
- Pre-operative and postoperative management
Children’s Hospital of Michigan Launches Neonatal Neurocritical Care Program to manage the care of babies at risk for brain injury
The brain grows at the highest rate in the initial three months of life. This period also has a high risk for brain injury and great potential for brain recovery and rescue. With increasing survival of all NICU patients there is a greater need for focus on improving neurodevelopment among the highest risk survivors.
Recognizing the need to manage and minimize neurological complications associated with preterm and term newborn babies, Children’s Hospital of Michigan has developed the Neonatal Neurocritical Care Program. The NeuroNICU offers a 6 bed unit housed within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the hospital. The program is the only one of its kind in Metro Detroit and one of a select few in the nation, providing a specially trained team of clinicians, dedicated to providing a developmentally appropriate environment to optimize neurologic care and developmental outcomes for this highly vulnerable population.
New Program Within New NICU
The Neonatal Neurocritical Care Program is part of the newly expanded and renovated Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on the third floor of the Children's Hospital of Michigan Tower.
The new NICU features 35 single private rooms, two double rooms, a parent zone in each room, a lactation room, and spacious family lounges that have full bathrooms, a kitchenette, and a quiet lounge.
As a Regional Level IV NICU, the hospital has the capability to provide surgical repair of complex congenital or acquired conditions and maintains a comprehensive range of pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists and pediatric anesthesiologists on site. It is a leader in cooling therapy treatment and research for infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), repair of abdominal wall defects and care of infants with chronic lung disease.
The NICU maintains a ratio of one nurse to three patients, maintaining the highest safety standards for the most at-risk patients. NICU patients receive expert care from board-certified neonatologists and pediatric subspecialists. In addition, a team of pediatric radiologists provides advanced imaging services using kid-friendly protocols.Pillars of Excellence
The Neonatal Neurocritical Care Program provides 4 pillars of care to improve neurological treatment and outcomes of preterm and newborn babies. These include:
Neuroassessment
- Neonatologists who have undergone training in standardized examination and are certified examiners for multicenter research trials, pediatric neurology physicians and transport PANDA team who are also intensively trained in neurologic examination
- aEEG
Neurodiagnostics
- Video EEG with 24/7 review
- NIRS
- MRI-non sedate bundle and feed program with MRS-pediatric neuroradiologist reading
Neuroprotection
- Cooling-standard and late cooling
- Research studies for mild HIE
- Neurosurgical interventions-reservoir and shunt placement and complex surgical procedures as indicated
- Research studies on stem cell therapies
Neuroadvancement
- OT/PT assessment for feeding evaluation
- Research on music therapy, noise control
- Single room and family-centered care
After the patient is released from the hospital, continuum of care includes a Multidisciplinary Developmental Assessment Clinic where all neonatal neurocritical care patients will be followed for five years. Collaborative care includes specialists from physical medicine and rehabilitation, neonatology and neuropsychology.
All Services
Children's Hospital of Michigan - Main Campus
(313) 745-KIDS