Neurocritical Care Service

Neurocritical care specialists treat newborns, infants and children who have life-threatening neurological conditions in a critical care setting. At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, our experts have advanced subspecialty training in pediatric neurocritical care.

What Do Pediatric Neurocritical Care Specialists Do? 

Our neurocritical care specialists diagnose and treat children with acute neurological disorders. Sometimes these disorders arise from the brain. Other times, they are complications of conditions that affect other organs in the body. Our neurocritical care specialists at Children’s Hospital partner with our intensive care units to provide comprehensive evaluations and timely treatments to prevent or minimize brain injury. For example, if a child in our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit has a stroke, a neurocritical care specialist is a member of the patient’s care team.

Neurocritical Care: How We Stand Out

Neurocritical care specialists at Children’s Hospital are trained to exclusively treat children. This expertise means your child receives pediatric-specific treatments with the goal of achieving the best possible outcome.

Your child benefits from:

  • Integrated services and better outcomes: Our neurocritical care expert provides timely treatments in critical care settings throughout the hospital. Having a neurocritical care specialist integrated into the critical care team means children receive timely evaluations and interventions from experts.
  • Expert stroke care: Neurocritical care specialists are part of the emergency stroke team. This team focuses on stabilizing your child and minimizing any potential brain injury. Through our Stroke Program, we also provide follow-up care to support your child’s continued growth and development.
  • Specialized care for our smallest patients: Children’s Hospital is home to one of the few Fetal and Neonatal Neurocritical Care programs in the country. We offer the highest level of care to children born with brain or spinal cord conditions or neurological complications due to prematurity or trauma.
  • On-site rehabilitation: After admission to an intensive care unit for a neurological condition, inpatient rehabilitation helps many children safely transition back to daily activities. Children’s Hospital is one of the only pediatric programs in the country with an Inpatient Rehabilitation Center.

Specialized Expertise

Specialists in our Neurocritical Care Services are trained in:

  • Pediatric stroke
  • Pediatric neurocritical care
  • Neonatal neurology

Only a handful of clinicians in the country have this advanced level of training. This expertise gives your child access to effective, innovative treatments not routinely available elsewhere in the region.

Neurocritical Care  

Our neurocritical care specialists work with experts throughout Children’s Hospital, including:

Neurocritical Care specialists also provide continuity in outpatient programs, including:

Conditions We Diagnose, Evaluate and Treat

In the intensive care unit, we provide expert consultation, evaluation and treatment for various neurological conditions in infants and children. These conditions include:

  • Brain malformations 
  • Brain tumors
  • Genetic syndromes
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Hypertonia or hypotonia
  • Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
  • Meningitis and encephalitis
  • Metabolic disease
  • Neuromuscular disease
  • Seizures and status epilepticus
  • Stroke
  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • Vascular malformations

Multidisciplinary Neurocritical Care for Infants and Children

Neurocritical care at Children’s Hospital involves collaboration among multiple subspecialty teams.

Your child benefits from the recommendations of experts in:

Comprehensive Neurological and Neurosurgical Services for Children

Neurocritical Care Services help children achieve their full neurologic potential. As one of the nation’s premier pediatric neurological institutes, we offer more of the services your child needs to heal. Find out more about our Neurological Institute.

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