TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Acute Care of the Child with Medical Complexity A1 - Hall, David E. A1 - Glader, Laurie A1 - Mauskar, Sangeeta A2 - Zaoutis, Lisa B. A2 - Chiang, Vincent W. PY - 2017 T2 - Comprehensive Pediatric Hospital Medicine, 2e AB - Children with medical complexity are growing in number in children’s hospitals. They are at the highest risk for medical errors1,2 and for readmission after discharge.3 A definition of the patient with medical complexity remains elusive, but these children are characterized by chronic, severe health conditions, substantial health service needs, functional limitations that are often severe, and high health resource utilization.4 Often these patients have abnormalities involving multiple organ systems and are dependent on medical technology such as gastrostomy tubes, tracheostomies, ventilators, and ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts. Many inpatients with well-defined chronic disease are cared for primarily by subspecialists without input from a general pediatric hospital provider. Typical patients in this group include those with cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or malignancy. Their care is better discussed elsewhere. However, many patients with complex chronic disease do not fit neatly into a subspecialty, and hospital-based pediatricians are often asked to care for them. Of this latter group, severe neurologic impairment is a frequent common denominator.5 This chapter focuses on the acute care of this type of child. The comorbidities of this population are the focus of Chapter 181. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1146124566 ER -