Pediatrics

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Pediatric Critical Care

The Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine, led by Mara Nitu, MD, is an integral part of Indiana’s only quaternary care pediatric hospital, Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health. The highly trained sub-specialists intensivists in this pediatrics specialty team are prepared to intervene at the most critical moment of a family’s life journey, when their child’s life hangs in the balance. Patients from across the state of Indiana are transported here for interventions, procedures and treatment that other hospitals are not equipped to perform. The Children’s Hospital Association names Riley Hospital as having one of the highest acuity patient mixes in the United States.

State of the Art Facilities

Riley’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) boasts a state-of-the-art 36-bed unit which provides care to critically ill infants, children and adolescents. This is a high-acuity, high-occupancy clinical program. All pediatric medical subspecialties are represented, and services provided include extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), dialysis, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), and iNO administration. An active and high-volume pediatric surgical sub-specialty presence is here, including pediatric general surgery, trauma, cardiovascular surgery, solid organ transplantation (including cardiac, liver, renal and multi-visceral), ENT neurosurgery, and orthopedics. In addition, the PICU physicians manage a busy procedural sedation program and serve as medical command for a large state-wide transport team.

Cardiac Critical Care Unit

This team of doctors also staff a 12-bed cardiac critical care unit and provide outstanding care to all variations of pediatric cardiovascular illness. With 350-400 cardiovascular surgery cases performed annually, these experienced and internationally recognized cardiovascular surgeons lead a multidisciplinary team consisting of pediatric cardiologists, dedicated nursing staff and pharmacist, nutritionists, nurse practitioners and pediatric critical care fellows.

The collaborative model and high volume of patients provide both an exciting clinical experience for the intensivists as well as a supportive environment and wealth of research and teaching opportunities for academic faculty. Services provided include ECMO, mechanical assist devices (e.g. Berlin-EXCOR, Pedi-Mag), renal replacement therapies, and all modes of mechanical ventilation including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) and APRV.

36
bed PICU
12
bed cardiac critical care unit
22
physicians
Research

Research

The Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine is involved in multi-center studies with a national presence that focus on the age of blood at transfusion, sepsis and shock, stem cell and respiratory failure, and more.
Clinical Care

Clinical Care

Pediatric Critical Care Medicine faculty work with a team of experts to care for children with complex medical, surgical and traumatic conditions at the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in Indiana.
Fellowship

Fellowship

The Pediatric Critical Medicine Fellowship is a three-year program in which fellows acquire the skills to treat children with life-threatening conditions.