HOME MECHANICAL VENTILATION OF CHILDREN

The medical records of 89 ventilator-assisted children followed at the University of Michigan Medical Center from 1978 to 1993 were reviewed . The status of these children was remarkably stable. Parameters of co mmunication, nutrition, education, and mobility changed very little ov er time, and fewer than half had to be re-admitted. Children aged 9 to 12 years had the most nursing hours; in terms of diagnosis, those wit h spinal cord injury and bronchopulmonary dysplasia had the most. The younger children had the longest initial hospital stay and the most re -admissions. The authors conclude that appropriate rehabilitation duri ng the initial hospitalization can minimize later changes, instability and rehospitalizations, and that careful follow-up and periodic evalu ation can improve the patients' health and function.