PCCM Audio Summary - February 2026

The February 2026 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) features one article assessing early initiation of the vasoactive infusions and sepsis bundle on outcomes in critically ill children and another describing trends in medical management during withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Clinical investigation articles encompass a wide variety of topics: comparing brain MRIs of neonates who underwent carotid reconstruction versus ligation at the time of decannulation from venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, exposing financial vulnerability of PICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting quality-of-life findings in children and parents after PICU admission, the effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on cardiac index and right ventricular performance in ventilated children after cardiac surgery, implementing a quality improvement initiative to mitigate nephrotoxic medication exposure and acute kidney injury in the PICU, use of a handover tool to reduce cardiac arrests in the PICU, and assessing the frequency of adverse events associated with ketamine use as a primary procedural sedative. The two PCCM Conference Report & Expert Panel articles focus on pediatric critical care point-of-care ultrasound, with one article outlining guidance for institutional practices and the other proposing entrustable professional activities.

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