Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Ste-Justine Hospital

The paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is an ultra-specialized service in which patients receive the care of a large medical and paramedical team, who closely monitor patients on a 24 hour basis.

Every year, this unit treats around 1,000 patients of all ages who come from all areas of Quebec to receive tertiary and quaternary care in all medical and surgical specialties.
The complexity of the care given, as well as the highly-specialized equipment and specific treatments available are some of the reasons for admitting a patient to the intensive care unit, some of which can be medical in nature (such as a severe respiratory infection, multiple organ damage, shock), or surgical (such as post-operative care after heart surgery, severe multitrauma or major paediatric burn victims, major orthopaedic surgery or neurosurgery). The children who received a liver, heart or kidney transplant are also treated in ICU immediately following their surgery.

This unit provides access to high-technology tools for patient monitoring and care (such as extracorporeal support, haemofiltration).

Numerous professionals revolve around a child being treated in intensive care, and they all work together to provide all the care required by the child’s condition. Parents represent a key element in this partnership and have an important role to play in the child’s care. 

The PICU researchers are involved in many topics including the application of artificial intelloigence at the bedside. This reserach topic is regrouped in a cluster financed by the Fonds de Recherche Santé Québec.