Clinical service needs and outcomes for older children and adolescents in intensive care: a narrative review
- 1School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- 2Department of Paediatric Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland
Abstract
Adolescents and young adults represent an understudied population in intensive care with limited evidence to guide clinical practice and service design. The absence of a universally accepted age definition has led to aggregation of this group with paediatric and adult cohorts in both adult and paediatric critical care research. Adolescents and young adults have distinct admission characteristics, organ support requirements and outcomes compared with older and younger patients, with a broad spectrum of pathology from chronic congenital and genetic disease to acute acquired illnesses and trauma. This population also poses operational challenges for intensive care as they occupy the interface between adult and paediatric critical care services which have traditionally been organised separately with distinct training pathways, equipment, guidelines and expertise. This review synthesises evidence on the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, interventions and outcomes for this population in both adult and paediatric intensive care and identifies key areas for improvement in existing evidence, clinical practice and service delivery.
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BibTeX
@article{crowe2026clinical,
title = {{Clinical service needs and outcomes for older children and adolescents in intensive care: a narrative review}},
author = {Gillian Crowe and Martina Healy},
journal = {BMJ Paediatrics Open},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1136/bmjpo-2026-004900},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2026-004900},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Clinical service needs and outcomes for older children and adolescents in intensive care: a narrative review
AU - Gillian Crowe
AU - Martina Healy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - BMJ Paediatrics Open
DO - 10.1136/bmjpo-2026-004900
UR - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2026-004900
AB - Adolescents and young adults represent an understudied population in intensive care with limited evidence to guide clinical practice and service design. The absence of a universally accepted age definition has led to aggregation of this group with paediatric and adult cohorts in both adult and paediatric critical care research. Adolescents and young adults have distinct admission characteristics, organ support requirements and outcomes compared with older and younger patients, with a broad spectrum of pathology from chronic congenital and genetic disease to acute acquired illnesses and trauma. This population also poses operational challenges for intensive care as they occupy the interface between adult and paediatric critical care services which have traditionally been organised separately with distinct training pathways, equipment, guidelines and expertise. This review synthesises evidence on the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, interventions and outcomes for this population in both adult and paediatric intensive care and identifies key areas for improvement in existing evidence, clinical practice and service delivery.
SN - 2399-9772
ER -