The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Hospital is a facility dedicated to the care of critically ill patients from birth to the 16 yo of life. It has 8 intensive beds in which about 600 cases of life-threatening diseases are treated annually.
It is the only specialized centre at a regional level to have a 24-hour heliport and therefore available to receive emergency patients even from neighbouring regions.
The morbid conditions of interest are represented by severe cardio-respiratory insufficiency and major traumatology; patients with severe intoxication and infectious conditions as well as patients from within the Gemelli Polyclinic who require monitoring and intensive postoperative treatment are also treated.
The facility has state-of-the-art technological equipment capable of providing all types of ventilatory support and advanced neurophysiological and hemodynamic monitoring.
The most sophisticated extracorporeal purification techniques are used in emergencies on neonatal and pediatric patients: CRRT (Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy), peritoneal dialysis, exanguino-transfusion, and plasma exchange.
The Center has a therapeutic hypothermia protocol that can be activated in emergencies for patients with severe acute neurological damage (neurotraumatology, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, severe neonatal asphyxia).
Pediatric Intensive Care provides assistance to the following groups of patients:
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit represents one of the two regional reference centres for severe pediatric trauma and the only regional reference centre for burned children in critical conditions, in collaboration with the Burn Center of the AO S. Eugenio.
The structure is directed by prof. Giorgio Conti, Professor of anaesthesia and resuscitation, while the medical collaborators have anesthesiology-resuscitation and/or pediatric training.
The nursing facility consists of a head nurse and a nucleus of professional nurses dedicated to pediatric emergency intensity.
