Arkansas Children's Pulmonology Program Champions Multidisciplinary Care for Pediatric Respiratory Disorders
Providing holistic care for each patient starts with a multidisciplinary and multispecialty approach, which Arkansas Children’s Pulmonology has perfected. Pediatric pulmonology, led by Jennifer S. Guimbellot, M.D., a pediatric pulmonologist and chief of pulmonology and sleep medicine at Arkansas Children’s and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, provides outpatient and inpatient care for pulmonary and respiratory-related disorders of children in Arkansas and surrounding states. Common conditions include cystic fibrosis, chronic cough, asthma and other causes of wheezing, aspiration/dysphagia-related lung disease, congenital respiratory abnormalities and chronic lung disease of prematurity (bronchopulmonary dysplasia).
There are several innovative highlights in pulmonology:
State-of-the-art bronchoscopy
Outstanding Pulmonary Function Laboratories (PFL) and respiratory care services
Fully-accredited Pediatric Sleep Center
Only National CF Foundation-accredited Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Center in Arkansas
The Arkansas Center for Respiratory Technology Dependent Children (ACRTDC)
Specialized care for asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and pulmonary complications of neurological and neuromuscular disorders
“I was very excited about the recent growth and expansion of both the clinical and the scientific mission to help improve the health of children in Arkansas,” said Dr. Guimbellot, who joined Arkansas Children’s in April 2024. “We can make a real difference here in Arkansas at Arkansas Children’s and across the nation. There’s so much room for opportunity and for expanding our knowledge for how to take care of children with lung diseases and sleep disorders.”
Points of Care
Although based primarily at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), the team provides outpatient care at Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) in Springdale via in-person clinics with three providers and at the ACH Jonesboro Clinic with an APRN. A sleep lab was also established at ACNW.
Key services for pulmonology include:
Comprehensive diagnostic services: pulmonary function tests, bronchoscopy, imaging studies (like chest X-rays and CT scans) and sleep studies
Treatment plans: medication management, respiratory therapy, patient education and long-term follow-up to monitor and manage chronic conditions
Ventilatory Support: Expertise in managing children who require ventilatory support, including non-invasive ventilation (e.g., CPAP and BiPAP) and invasive mechanical ventilation
Multidisciplinary Care: Collaboration with other pediatric specialties, such as cardiology, immunology and gastroenterology, to provide comprehensive care for complex cases
Multispecialty Programs
To help pediatric patients breathe easier, several programs within pulmonology target specific areas of respiratory care.
The Asthma Clinical and Research Program was established between allergy and immunology and pulmonology to improve adherence to current national best practice standards for asthma care and utilize lessons learned to expand the adoption of current national best practice standards in pediatric asthma care to statewide pediatricians through the Arkansas Children’s Care Network (ACCN). The team is developing a Trigger Reduction program, which will require going into patient-family homes or using telemedicine to educate about asthma and identify triggers in a home environment.
Severe Asthma Clinic (SAC) focuses on children with severe, persistent or difficult-to-treat asthma who are at high risk of life-threatening exacerbations and often experience frequent health care utilizations. Given the variety and complexity of factors that drive severe asthma, a multidisciplinary clinic model is utilized, with resources from allergy, pulmonology, respiratory therapy, social work and clinical psychology.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Center is the only CF center in Arkansas. It participates in CF clinical research and is part of the CFF Therapeutic Development Network. Around 160 children diagnosed with CF receive regular care at ACH.
Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia Center (PCD) is the only tertiary center in Arkansas and the only entity to diagnose PCD through advanced, early diagnostic skills and specialized testing. Arkansas Children’s is a member of the growing PCD Foundation Clinical and Research Centers Network (PCDF-CRCN).
Other multidisciplinary clinics involving Arkansas Children’s Pulmonology include the Sickle Cell Clinic, Fontan Clinic, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Clinic, Multidisciplinary Dystrophinopathies Clinic, Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic, Aerodigestive Clinic and Craniofacial Clinic.
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