The Effect of the Pandemic on Characteristics of Pediatric Intensive Care Hospitalizations

Aim: SARS CoV-2 virus has spread all over the world after creating a local epidemic in Wuhan, China. The pandemic has made changes in the characteristics of hospital admissions as well as in all aspects of life. Our aim in this study is to compare the characteristics of the patients hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit before and during the pandemic. Material and Method: The records of the patients hospitalized in Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medical Faculty Pediatric Intensive Care Unit between March 11th, 2019 and March 11th, 2021 were analyzed from the medical database. The study group was divided into two as patients hospitalized before March 11th, 2020, and after March 11th, 2020. The patients’ age, gender, diagnosis, length of stay, respiratory support treatment methods, time spent on mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy procedure were recorded. Results: There was no significant difference in terms of the frequency of hospitalization in the intensive care unit, length of hospital stay, duration of mechanical ventilator support, and patient diagnoses. A significant, positive and strong correlation was found between the length of stay of the patients and the time they spent on mechanical ventilator. Conclusion: The pandemic had no effect on the clinical and demographic characteristics of the patients hospitalized in our pediatric intensive care unit