Division of Critical Care Medicine

We are responsible for the medical care of all critically ill or injured patients at the NCCHD.

We are pioneering practices such as in-hospital resuscitation and disaster medicine in the pediatric field.

We dedicate significant effort to educating trainees in pediatric acute care medicine and furthering academic research in our field.

Medical services

Our division is comprised of 8 attending physicians and 11 fellowship trainees. Most of our attending staff members are certified not only as pediatricians but also as intensivists and/or acute care physicians.

As the largest pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Japan, our department is home to a great wealth of knowledge and expertise. Over 1,000 patients are admitted to our unit annually, and are provided with 24-hour care by physicians specialized in pediatric critical care medicine. Our 20-bed Medical-Surgical PICU is run by a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, registered nurses, medical engineers, medical technologists, radiology technologists, and physical therapists.

Our policy

Working together with a range of different professionals, we actively promote the health, safety, and well-being of children. We provide consultations, transport, and care to critically ill patients within the hospital, as well as patients referred from other hospitals both within Japan and abroad.

Our expertise enables us to utilize advanced medical technologies in the treatment of patients, including high frequency oscillation ventilation (HFOV), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and continuous renal
replacement therapy (CRRT). We also provide both pre-operative care to patients requiring stabilization before operations, and post-operative care to those who have undergone complex surgeries, for instance neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, and solid organ transplantations.

Throughout all of our work we endeavor to follow a sensitive and compassionate approach to all of our patients and their families.

Our specialties

Pediatric acute care: We provide care to any critically ill and injured patients in need. We also accept patients who require advanced treatment, particularly those coming from the Southern Kanto area.
ECMO: We have one of the largest pediatric ECMO programs in Japan. Functioning as a replacement for a patient's heart and lungs, ECMO serves our most critically ill patients. We also use ECMO in cases of resuscitation.
Blood purification for sepsis: We implement a combination therapy of CRRT and endotoxin removal for patients who do not respond to standard treatments.
Perioperative care in liver transplantation: Our institute is the largest pediatric liver transplant center in Japan, which is run by a multidisciplinary team of experts dedicated to providing the best care to patients requiring liver transplantations.

Our patients

We are responsible for all patients admitted with severe and acute illness or injury such as acute respiratory failure, shock, sepsis, acute kidney injury, acute encephalopathy, multiple trauma, and near-drowning.

We also care for all patients requiring postoperative intensive care following congenital heart disease operations, liver and kidney transplantation, neurosurgery, and neonatal surgery.

Advanced/specialized treatments

ECMO, CRRT, hypoxic gas ventilation HFOV, inhaled nitric oxide, and therapeutic hypothermia.

Frequently performed tests

Respiratory function tests, bronchoscopy, ultrasound, continuous electroencephalography (EEG), and intracranial pressure monitoring