Increasing numbers of children in the United States (ie, ∼ 200 children per 100 000 population) require
intensive care annually, because of advances in
pediatric therapeutic methods and a changing spectrum of
pediatric disease.1 It has been projected that there will be continued growth in the number of
pediatric intensive care unit (PICU)
beds well into the new millennium, with a higher level of illness acuity for children occupying them.2