Vol. 31, No. 2
Acrobat PDF version of Growing Together also available
Regional Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Dayton Children’s regional PICU is the only intensive care unit in the region staffed by pediatric intensivists – physicians specially trained in pediatric critical care medicine. The nurses, respiratory therapists and others providing care to critically ill and injured children also have special training and experience in meeting their patients’ complex medical needs.
The unit is part of the Wallace Critical Care Complex, which recently won a national design award for its healing environment. Patients in the PICU and their families benefit from “intensive caring at its best.”
Visit our website at www.childrensdayton.org to take a video tour of the PICU and to learn more about these and other services at Dayton Children’s.
More about Dayton Children’s staff and services:
Dayton Children’s pediatric neurosurgery team
Laurence Kleiner, MD, medical director (in photo above)
Angela Enix, RN, CPNP-AC, pediatric nurse practitioner
Sherry Kahn, RN, CPNP, pediatric nurse practitioner
Using a multidisciplinary approach to care, the pediatric neurosurgery team works closely with other hospital-based specialists to provide care to children with disorders of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves from infancy through
age 21.
| Dayton Children's Focus |
Spinal surgery keeps Kettering teen |
Brian Albrecht spent much of his high school career running. The Kettering teen was captain of his cross country team and ran a marathon in Las Vegas in December 2005. He was in top shape.
So when he started having leg pain in the middle of April 2006, Brian and his family chalked it up to a pulled muscle – a common malady for runners. His mom Cindy encouraged him to take it easy and to spend time in the family’s hot tub.
As Brian’s pain increased and radiated throughout his back, he started having a lot of trouble walking, Cindy says. Brian was working for his dad John, a contractor, during the summer and his family suspected he might have lifted something too heavy.
A CT scan in early July didn’t show anything that would be causing Brian’s pain and yet, it continued and spread.
“He couldn’t sleep at night,” Cindy says. “He could sleep on his knees leaning over an ottoman for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. He was falling down and we were scared. Nobody could figure out what was wrong with him.”
At the end of July, an MRI showed that Brian had a tumor within his spinal canal that was significantly compressing all of the nerves that served his legs, bowel and bladder.
Brian’s dad was doing some work for Laurence Kleiner, MD, director of pediatric neurosurgery at The Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, and asked for Dr. Kleiner’s advice.
“Brian’s capillary hemangioma tumor was causing relentless back pain for him,” Dr. Kleiner says. He was actually suffering from what is called a cauda equina syndrome, which is a neurosurgical emergency. He needed to have surgery as soon as possible.
Dr. Kleiner called the family and saw them on the evening of August 1. He made arrangements with surgical services at Dayton Children’s so that Brian could have surgery as soon as possible.
Everything happened so quickly that Cindy and John didn’t have much time to worry about the surgery ahead of time, she says. When they arrived at Dayton Children’s, the caring staff in surgery put their minds at ease.
More than 12,000 surgeries are performed annually at Dayton Children’s. The hospital uses the latest technology, and pediatric anesthesiologists are present for every surgery. The staff is consistently recognized with high patient satisfaction scores.
“They were awesome,” Cindy says. “The nurse who was giving us updates throughout the surgery was really comforting.”
Dr Kleiner outlined exactly where the mass was, shared the MRI with us, and told us what he planned to do about it. “The risks and complications that go with this type of lesion and the surgery scared the family since Brian’s health was in the balance, but Dr Kleiner helped put the whole family at ease,” Cindy explains.
Brian’s surgery was about eight hours long. Dr. Kleiner discovered during the surgery that the mass had significantly compressed and enveloped the nerves coming from the spinal cord. The mass took up almost the complete cross-sectional diameter of the spinal canal. Its removal required tedious dissection under the operating microscope to accomplish a total resection, saving all but a single strand of one nerve, which was part of the tumor. Even the pathologist came into the operating room to see the mass and give his opinions directly.
After the surgery, Brian spent about a day in the regional pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Dayton Children’s. After his stay in the PICU, Brian recuperated in the general pediatric unit for several days before being discharged. His family saw improvement each day. He was discharged on August 5, 2006 – just three days after the removal of his spinal tumor.
Remarkably, Brian was able to leave home and begin his college career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign less than three weeks after his surgery. The only lasting effect of his tumor is a narrow three-inch area on his thigh that is numb, according to Cindy. Brian will have an annual checkup with Dr. Kleiner later this year but is feeling great. His prognosis is excellent.
Brian Albrecht at college.
“He’s done so well,” Cindy says. “Everything turned out so much better than we could have hoped. I was amazed by the whole thing and I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Kleiner’s care for our family. He was so good about explaining everything to Brian and to us. Our experience at Dayton Children’s was fabulous.”
Table of Contents |
Health Beat
Extreme skateboarding safety
When a child is in danger
Summer camps for kids with special needs
Features
Looking forward to spring with
Dayton Children's
In-home asthma education program
Spinal surgery keeps Kettering teen...
On Track for College
Neurosurgery
Wallace Critical Care Complex
Beavercreek Testing Center opens
Pediatric specialist joins the Dayton Children's staff
Children's Miracle Network Telethon coming soon
Celebrating 40 years at Dayton Children's
Cool new things on Dayton Children's website
Free online updates from Dayton Children's
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