Abstract
Severe pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) is a life-threatening and frequent problem experienced by thousands of children each year. Little evidence supports current supportive practices during their critical illness. The overall objective of this study is to identify the best positional and/or ventilation practice that leads to improved patient outcomes in these critically ill children. We hypothesize that children with high moderate-severe PARDS treated with either prone positioning or high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) will demonstrate more days off the ventilator when compared to children treated with supine positioning or conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV).
