3.1. The characteristics of included children
APACHE-II
A total of 150 fasted children were initially identified, 8 children were excluded because of not meeting the inclusion criteria, 3 children did not receive the allocated interventions. Finally, 139 children were included, with 69 children in ice water group and 70 children in menthol group (Fig. The CONSORT flow diagram of children inclusion.The characteristics of included children are presented in Table The characteristics of included ICU children.APACHE-II = acute physiology and chronic health evaluation, BMI = body mass index.