Background
Critical illness
CRITICAL ILLNESS, CRITICAL ILLNESS
Critical illness requiring ICU admission occurs in upwards of 10,000 children each year in Canada [To date, there have been no interventional trials in the PICU setting and the adult literature is inconclusive with some but not all demonstrating that an enteral loading dose of cholecalciferol may reduce length of stay [Prior to undertaking a large randomized controlled trial (RCT) in the PICU setting, it is first essential to identify a dosing strategy that can safely restore vitamin D status in a timeframe relevant for critical illness. The current standard approach to vitamin D supplementation for the general pediatric population (200 to 1,000 IU/day of cholecalciferol) can take months to restore vitamin D status in otherwise healthy children who are deficient [We conducted a prospective double-blind dose evaluation phase II pilot feasibility RCT. Our primary objective was to determine whether a weight-based enteral loading dose of cholecalciferol [