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Final Program


Final Congress Guide

Therapeutics

1000 Section - The Effect of Early Rehabilitation for a Child with Congenital Heart Disease(CHD) in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

    Presenting Author/Autor expositor(s)

  • SH

    Sae Mi Hong, PhD

    Speech-Language Pathologist
    Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit, Asan Medical Center
    Songpa-gu, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea

    • Co-Author/Coautor(s)

  • In Jin Yoon, BS

    Occupational therapist
    Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit, Asan Medical Center
    Songpa-gu, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea

  • KC

    Kyung Yong Choi, BS

    Physical therapist
    Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit, Asan Medical Center
    Songpa-gu, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea

  • KL

    Kyeong Lim Lim, BS

    Physical therapist
    Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit, Asan Medical Center
    Songpa-gu, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea

    • Corresponding Author/Autor a quien dirigir la corr(s)

  • Eun Jae Ko, MD

    Professor
    Asan Medical Center
    Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea

Case Diagnosis:

Systematic protocols for early rehabilitation in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) have not yet been established in Korea and are currently in their initial stages of development. Therefore, through this case report, we aim to provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of early rehabilitation in the PICU.

A 10-year-old girl with congenital heart disease (left isomerism, atrial and ventricular septal defects) was admitted to the PICU with sepsis.

Case Description:

Physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and swallowing therapy (SWT) began on day 22. Assessments included the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS), Functional Status Scale (FSS), manual muscle testing (MMT), pulmonary function tests—maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), peak cough flow (PCF)—and the mMRC dyspnea scale.

Activities of daily living and feeding were evaluated by the K-MBI and the ASHA NOMS. After 6 days, speech-language therapy (SLT) was added, with maximal phonation time (MPT) and Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test (REVT). The patient completed 16 sessions each of PT, OT, SWT and 11 of SLT (30 min/day) in the PICU.

Discussions:

Initially, RASS –1, FSS 19, and MMT showed fair upper- and poor lower-limb strength. Walking, grip, and pulmonary tests were impossible; K-MBI 0 and ASHA NOMS Level 1 indicated total dependence.

Before transfer, RASS improved to 0, FSS 7, lower-limb MMT fair, walking time 10.68 s, grip 5.4/6.0 kg. Pulmonary function became measurable (MIP 21 cmH₂O, MEP 18 cmH₂O, PCF 70 L/min, mMRC 2). K-MBI rose to 17, ASHA NOMS to Level 5, MPT 5 s, and REVT receptive/expressive ages to 126/120 months.

Conclusions: This case report demonstrates that early rehabilitation in the PICU had positive effects on the pediatric patient’s physical, pulmonary, swallowing, speech and language functions, as well as on activities of daily living. Therefore, early implementation of active rehabilitation therapy in the PICU is recommended whenever feasible.