Tehran University of Medical Sciences Acta Medica Iranica 0044-6025 60 10 2022 12 18 646 654 EN Mohsen Alisamir Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Mohammadreza Mirkarimi Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Sadegh Mirzaee Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Solmaz Heidari Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Shahriar Barouti Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Shooka Mohammadi Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2021 03 26 2022 06 10 Data on pediatric critical care in Iran are insufficient. This study was performed to determine the outcomes and characteristics of critically ill children admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Ahvaz, Iran. A retrospective study was conducted among all patients in the PICU of Abuzar Hospital for one year. Their medical documents were reviewed. A total of 400 patients were identified. The average age of patients was 29.94±39.55 months, and 53.8% of them were males. Nearly half of the cases were under age one. The most prevalent causes of PICU admission were respiratory (36.5%), neurological (18.5%), and infection-related diseases (15%). Besides, 55.7% of patients (n=223) had no history of underlying health problems. Admissions were more frequent in winter (n=125; 31.3%) and spring (n=101; 25.3%). The mortality rate and the mean hospital length of stay (LOS) were 15.5% and 10.79±6.39 days, respectively. In addition, 231 patients had an abnormal respiratory rate and a quarter of them (n=97) required ventilation support. Moreover, 377 and 82 patients were malnourished and severely underweight, respectively. A significant association was found between the mortality of patients and malnutrition, as well as having consanguineous parents (P<0.001). The death rate was significantly higher in patients with infectious disease than non-infectious, as well as in long-stay PICU patients than in short-stay patients (P<0.05). Additional studies are required to find factors contributing to the disease burden among PICU patients in Iran to develop appropriate therapeutic strategies and improve the outcomes of pediatric patients. https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/view/9264