A Retrospective Cohort Study Comparing Outcomes of Pediatric Intensive Care Patients after Changing from Higher to Permissive Blood Pressure Targets

New neurological morbidity post pediatric intensive care (PIC) poses substantial problems, with a need to understand the relationship of outcome to blood pressure (BP) targets. The aim of the study is to see whether a change from a higher BP targeted strategy to a permissive one improved outcomes for development of new neurological morbidity, length of stay (LOS), and PIC-acquired infection. A retrospective cohort analysis was undertaken, comparing outcomes before and after the change. The higher BP cohort targets were set using standardized age-based centiles. In the permissive cohort, lower BPs were allowed, dependent on physiological variables. Targeted treatment continued throughout the critical illness. New neurological morbidity was defined as any deterioration from baseline, attributable to the admission, measured by post discharge clinical and records review over a minimum period of 4 years. Results were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics v26. Of 123 admissions in the permissive and 214 admissions in the higher BP target cohorts, 88 (72%) and 188 (88%) survived without new neurological morbidity (permissive vs. higher cohort OR 0.348 [95% CI 0.197–0.613] p <0.001). Median LOS was 2 (interquartile [IQ] range 2–5) and 3 (IQ range 2–6) days for the permissive and higher cohorts, respectively (p = 0.127). Three (2.4%) and 7 (3.3%) admissions in the permissive and higher BP cohorts respectively suffered PIC-acquired infection (p = 0.666). A higher BP targeted strategy was associated with protection from new neurological morbidity as compared with a permissive strategy, supporting the need for prospective studies into BP targets.