Characteristics and progression of children with acute viral bronchiolitis subjected to mechanical ventilation

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of children with acute viral bronchiolitis subjected to mechanical ventilation for three consecutive years and to correlate their progression with mechanical ventilation parameters and fluid balance. Methods: Longitudinal study of a series of infants ( < 0.05). Pneumothorax occurred in 10% of the sample and extubation failure in 9%, which was due to upper airway obstruction in half of the cases. The cumulative fluid balance on mechanical ventilation day four was 402 ± 254mL, which corresponds to an increase of 9.0 ± 5.9% in body weight. Thirty-seven patients (56%) exhibited a weight gain of 10% or more, which was not significantly associated with the ventilation parameters on mechanical ventilation day four, extubation failure, duration of mechanical ventilation or length of stay in the pediatric intensive care unit. Conclusion: The rate of mechanical ventilation for acute viral bronchiolitis remains constant, being associated with low mortality, few adverse effects, and positive cumulative fluid balance during the first days. Better fluid control might reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation.