Introduction:

Acute Respiratory Failure Syndrome (ARDS) is one of the main reasons for hospitalization in Pediatric Intensive Care Units.

Objective:

Characterize the patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) of the Teaching Pediatric "General Pedro Agustín Pérez" with diagnosis of ARDS during the period 2017-2019.

Method:

A descriptive, retrospective, longitudinal study was conducted. The universe was made up of all the patients admitted to this unit by a SIRA (N=85), from which a random sample was selected (n=32). The following variables were analysed: in each patient was specified age, sex, origin, nutritional status, Length of Stay, status at discharge. Concerning the SIRA, the cause, classification, complications and treatment were considered, and also it was defined the direct cause of death.

Results:

The patients were mostly between 1 and 3 years old (31.3%), males (68.8%), rural residents (62.5%), with malnutrition (43.8%), the stay at the (PICU) was more tan 7 days (53,1%), and 34.4 % of them passed away. The main cause of the respiratory distress syndrome was the septic shock (50,0 %). 87,5 % of the patients had complications. The treatment applied was in harmony with the unit's (PICU) protocol. Multi-organ dysfunction was the main direct cause of death (36,3 %).

Conclusions:

This syndrome (ARDS) was not a health problem to the (PICU), but the lethality was high, determined mainly by the multiorganic dysfunction.

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