Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: New Directions for 2026, Volume 27

The 27th volume of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) is an opportunity for new directions. Over the next year you will be able to see these ideas unfold in the articles that we select for publication. A secret for now, but one of the directions that I am excited to tell you about is an initiative led by the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies (WFPICCS). This year, WFPICCS will be extending its “evolving journey” with PCCM (1) by highlighting on its website (see wfpiccs.org) our clinical research from international centers. Therefore, my foreword for the 27th volume focuses on how we mean to start the international theme through the year. First, a reminder of the extent of our international authorship. Second, by way of illustrating this outstanding work, I point out the international content that you can find in the January issue of PCCM. INTERNATIONAL AUTHORSHIP AT PCCM In 2025, besides publishing articles from the United States, PCCM also published reports from collaborations around the world. The individual countries involved in authorship were, by region: Africa and the Middle East–Malawi, Israel, and Saudi Arabia; Asia–China, India, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam; Europe–France, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Turkiye, and the United Kingdom; Latin America–Brazil, Chile, and Colombia; North America–Canada and the United States; and Oceania–Australia and New Zealand. It is self-evident that our journal supports a wealth of talent in research, education, and knowledge which crosses international borders. We have this emphasis in publication because our mission is to share best practices that elevate global standards of pediatric critical care (2). JANUARY 2026 INTERNATIONAL REPORTS As examples of PCCM’s commitment to international reports, and the type of material that may feature in the WFPICCS highlights, here are four such articles in the January 2026 issue. First, in the PCCM Trials section, there is a trial protocol from an international collaborative (3) studying Stress Hydrocortisone in Pediatric Septic Shock (SHIPSS; see ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT03401398). The trial involves 50 PICUs in 11 countries in North America, South America, and Asia and the intention is that 500 patients will be recruited 2019–2026. Second, there is a Feature Article from two centers in Hungary and one center in the United Kingdom that describes multisite venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) in pediatric patients under 15 kg (4). In this 2017–2024 experience of 58 cannulated neonatal and pediatric VV-ECMO patients, the authors assessed the surgical versus percutaneous approach and the risk of thrombosis. Third, there is a Clinical Investigation from one center in China (2021–2023), which is about baseline vitamin C levels in 141 pediatric patients with sepsis (5). Last, there is a PCCM Narrative written by a pediatric intensivist in Spain (6). The author writes about the final days of a chronically ill patient, and there are no better recommendations for reading this item than those of our three reviewers who wrote: “much of the language throughout is so beautiful…”; and “I read this over morning coffee and I wept. It is so beautiful, artistic, poetic, and sad…”; and “the author shares the intimacy of being present…the writing is very graceful, blending clinical detail with reflection…” In summary, we welcome 2026 at PCCM. It is such a privilege to be able to read the breadth of international work in our field, and I have no hesitation in commending every article to you.