Immediate care must to treat paediatric trauma cases, says expert

Dr. Rajeswari Nayak (left), head of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Apollo Children’s Hospital, Chennai, addressing a media conference in Tirupati on Friday. Unit head Ms. Niranjani is also seen. | Photo Credit: K.V. POORNACHANDRA KUMAR

Paediatric expert on Friday said that for paediatric cases suffering from either trauma or critical infection, immediate as well as thorough attention is essential to bring the cases out of the risk zone.

Addressing a media conference here on Friday, Dr. N. Rajeswari, head of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Apollo Children’s Hospital, Chennai, highlighted the importance of having paediatric intensivists, advanced diagnostics and access to specialist consultations across verticals like neurology, nephrology, pulmonology and surgery.

Citing the case of one Vasisht Sai (13) of Tirupati, who had suffered a severe brain injury after being hit by a bus recently, Dr. Rajeswari recalled how the child suffered life-threatening blood pressure and bleeding, but with the ventilator support, an emergency neurosurgery was performed to bring him back to normalcy in three weeks.

Similar was the case of three-year-old Nithya Sri, who suffered a severe blood stream infection that impacted her liver, kidneys, lungs, and caused critical clotting issues. “During her ICU stay, she was given multi-organ support and blood products, which helped her gradually improve after a challenging three-week battle,” she said.

Most of the cases involving children pertain to infections like dengue, meningitis and pneumonia, while a huge portion is attributed to poly-trauma viz., road accidents or fall injuries.

Published - June 13, 2025 07:22 pm IST