Barbara-Jo Achuff, M.D.

Associate Professor

Email

bachuff@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor: Pediatrics
Critical Care Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX, US

Addresses

TCH - Legacy Tower (Office): 6651 Main Street
Houston, 77030
Phone: (832) 826-6230

TCH - Legacy Tower (Hospital): 6651 Main Street
Houston, 77030
Phone: (832) 826-6230

Education

MD from Jefferson Medical College, 1992: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Residency at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pediatrics, 1999: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Fellowship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pediatric Critical Care, 2014: Philadelphia, Texas, United States

Clinical Fellowship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: 06/2015 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care

Certifications

Associate Professor: Baylor College of Medicine/TCH

Professional Statement

I have dedicated my career to the care of children with critical cardiac disease. The sophisticated and highly complex care of such patients requires working within a specialized team to deliver superior care. The team must work in beautiful harmony to create and perform an integrated care plan for both child and family. Clinical Interests: I have a special interest in the pain management and sedation practice with critically ill infants and children in the cardiac intensive care unit. Research Interests: My research interests follow my clinical interests in that I am currently evaluating and formulating personalized pain management and sedation practices to bring high quality and patient appropriate management to the bedside in the cardiac intensive care unit.

Websites

VIICTR Publications List

Selected Publications

Achuff BJ, Lemmings K; Causey JC; Sembera KA, Checchia PA Ghanayem NS. " Opioid Weaning Protocol Using Morphine vs. Methadone Decreases Duration and Exposure in Patients after Norwood Procedure " Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2022 May ; 361-70.
Pubmed PMID: 34982761.
Achuff BJ, Moffett BS, Acosta S, Lasa JJ, Checchia PA, Rusin CG. " Hypotensive Response to IV Acetaminophen in Pediatric Cardiac Patients " Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2019 Jan ;
Pubmed PMID: 30676493.
Achuff BJ, Achuff JC, Moffet B, Rusin CG, Checchia PA. " Epinephrine Syringe Exchange Events in a Pediatric Cardiovascular Critical Care Unit: Analyzing the Storm " Cardiology in the Young. 2017 Dec ;
Pubmed PMID: 29198222.
c) Pande C, Noll L, Afonso N, Serrano F, Monteiro S, Guffey D, Puri K, Achuff BJ, Akcan-Arikan A, Shekerdemian LS. " Association of Acute Kidney Injury with Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Children after Cardiac Surgery " The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2022 Mar ;
Pubmed PMID: 35346625.
Pollak U, Bronicki RA, Achuff BJ and Checchia, PA. " Postoperative Pain Management in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: Where Are We Heading?. " Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. 2019 Aug 25;
Pubmed PMID: 31446831.
Achuff BJ, Nicolson SC, Elci OU, Zuppa AF.. " Intraoperative dexmedetomidine reduces postoperative mechanical ventilation in infants after open heart surgery. " Pediatr Crit Care Med.. 2015 Jun ; 16 (5) : 440-7.
Pubmed PMID: 25715046.
Achuff BJ, Elias MD, O’ Connor M. " Risk Factors for Mortality in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Patients Managed with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Contemporary Review. " Cardiol Young. 2019 Jan 29; Poster presentation ACC, manuscript submission
Pubmed PMID: 30378526.
Elias MD, Achuff BJ, O’Connor M. " Long-term outcomes of pediatric cardiac patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. " Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2015 Jun 8;
Pubmed PMID: 28598945.

Projects

Optimizing Sedation Practice with Business Informatics: Baylor College of Medicine/TCH (07/2017 - present); CCM; This novel multidisciplinary quality project visualizes an enterprise-wide dataset of medications to optimize therapy on a personal level for patients in the ICU. Multiple dashboards depict medication administration over time along with cumulative dosing to create an individual profile along with population aggregate data for quality improvement.

Memberships

Sedation Stewardship Committee, Cardiac Critical Care, Texas Children’s Hospital: Medical Director

Pediatric Extracorporeal Outcomes Registry (PEDECOR): Member

Lifesong International, Inc.: Founder and Medical Director

Funding

A COMPARISON OF ANALGESIA AND SEDATION AFTER CARDIAC SURGERY BETWEEN CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME AND THEIR NON-SYNDROMIC COUNTERPARTS #5U24-HL135691: (07/01/2019); Grant funding from NIH/NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE