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