Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is one of the few children’s hospitals in the nation to offer a Neurocritical Care Program. The program is a recognized national referral center for the diagnosis and management of children with complex neurologic conditions including traumatic brain injury, stroke, infections, hypoxia, tumors, acute vascular malformations, hydrocephalus, status epilepticus (prolonged seizures) and uncontrolled epilepsy.
The Neurocritical Care Program is a leader in offering innovative management options, including therapeutic hypothermia, medical research trials, surgical interventions, evidence-based diets, whole genome sequencing (WGS) and rapid whole genome sequencing (rWGS).
An Advanced Neurocritical Care Setting
Children receive care in one of the hospital’s three critical care units, including the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and Neonatal intensive Care Unit (NICU). These units each consist of 40-bed floors, housed in the hospital’s Advanced Pediatric Care Pavilion, and offer the latest technological advances and around-the-clock care by a team dedicated to management of children with complex conditions. Care spaces include comfortable accommodations for parents or guardians.
We are one of the few hospitals in the country to offer rapid WGS (rWGS), an accelerated test, yielding clinical results in as little as 72 hours, depending on the case. This select test is offered in our three intensive care units (neonatal, pediatric, and cardiac) for critically ill children, a population for a fast answer may be crucial for medical management.
Treatments and Procedures
- Neuromonitoring capabilities including continuous EEG
- Intracranial pressure monitoring
- Brain tissue oxygen monitoring (Licox system)
- Therapeutic hypothermia
- Medication research trials
- Surgical interventions
- Evidence-based diets
- Acute Ischemic Stroke care
Conditions We Treat
A Team Approach to Care
The Neurocritical Care Program brings together a full range of clinical specialists to provide around-the-clock specialized pediatric care. The team includes board-certified:
- pediatric neurointensivists
- pediatric neurosurgeons
- pediatric neurologists
- pediatric neurocritical care nurse practitioners, and nurses trained in brain injury management.
Supporting the care team are intensive care social workers, case managers and child life specialists.