Wide Interest in a Vitamin C Drug Cocktail for Sepsis Despite Lagging Evidence

Critical care medicine specialist Paul Marik, MD, has described himself as a status quo destabilizer, and probably nothing illustrates that designation better than the sepsis treatment known as the Marik protocol. In the... read more

Empirical Anti-MRSA Therapy Not Associated with Reduced Mortality for Patients with Pneumonia

Empirical Anti-MRSA Therapy Not Associated with Reduced Mortality for Patients with Pneumonia

This study suggests that empirical anti-MRSA therapy was not associated with reduced mortality for any group of patients hospitalized for pneumonia. These results contribute to a growing body of evidence that questions the... read more

Methylnaltrexone for Treatment of Opioid-induced Constipation in Critically Ill Patients

Methylnaltrexone for Treatment of Opioid-induced Constipation in Critically Ill Patients

No evidence to support the addition of methylnaltrexone to regular laxatives for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in critically ill patients; however, the confidence interval was wide and a clinically important... read more

1 in 5 Patients Die within 90 Days After LVAD Implantation

1 in 5 Patients Die within 90 Days After LVAD Implantation

The aim of the study was to analyze early mortality after continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation which remains high. In the EUROMACS registry, approximately 1 in 5 patients die within 90 days... read more

It’s Insane to Keep Using Mortality As a Primary Endpoint in Critical Care Trials

It’s Insane to Keep Using Mortality As a Primary Endpoint in Critical Care Trials

Mortality is an important endpoint, so we shouldn't ignore mortality trends entirely. However, the vast majority of these will be spurious. Thus, we should generally not change practice due to them. In the history of critical... read more

Tranexamic Acid in TBI – CRASH-3 Trial Treatment

Tranexamic Acid in TBI – CRASH-3 Trial Treatment

The CRASH-3 trial is a multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of the effects of tranexamic acid on death and disability in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients with reactive pupils and/or mild... read more

Relative Hyperglycemia Predicts In-Hospital Mortality in Critically Ill Patients

Relative Hyperglycemia Predicts In-Hospital Mortality in Critically Ill Patients

Unlike absolute hyperglycemia, relative hyperglycemia, as assessed by the stress hyperglycemia ratio, independently predicts in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients across the glycemic spectrum. Future studies should... read more

The Faster Cooling Rate and More Stable Cooling Process in Endovascular Cooling Shorten Patients’ Time in ICU

The Faster Cooling Rate and More Stable Cooling Process in Endovascular Cooling Shorten Patients’ Time in ICU

This study conducted a meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness, stability, and safety of mild therapeutic hypothermia (TH) induced by endovascular cooling (EC) and surface cooling (SC) and its effect on ICU, survival rate,... read more

Potential Therapy for Improving Sudden Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Outcomes

Potential Therapy for Improving Sudden Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Outcomes

The severity of cardiogenic shock following asystolic cardiac arrest is dependent on the length of cardiac arrest prior to cardiopulmonary resuscitation and is mediated by myocardial stunning resulting from mitochondrial... read more

Safe Transfer of the Brain-injured Patient

Safe Transfer of the Brain-injured Patient

The document considers recent developments in the management of multiply-injured patients and those with acute ischaemic stroke. Whilst many of the principles of safe transfer are common to all seriously ill patients,... read more

Epinephrine During Resuscitation of Traumatic Cardiac Arrest and Increased Mortality

Epinephrine During Resuscitation of Traumatic Cardiac Arrest and Increased Mortality

Epinephrine administered during in-hospital resuscitation was associated with lower 7-day survival rate in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) following trauma. While we examined the outcomes of selected... read more

Should We Treat Fever in Critically Ill Patients Without Acute Brain Pathology?

Should We Treat Fever in Critically Ill Patients Without Acute Brain Pathology?

In one of the sessions at #LIVES2019 in Berlin, Prof. Frank Van Haren of Canberra Hospital, Australia, presented findings from the Randomised Evaluation of Active Control of Temperature versus Ordinary Temperature Management... read more

Early Identification of Disease Progression in Patients with Suspected Infection Presenting to the ED

Early Identification of Disease Progression in Patients with Suspected Infection Presenting to the ED

In patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a suspected infection, the blood biomarker MR-proADM could most accurately identify the likelihood of further disease progression. Incorporation into an early sepsis... read more

Health Coaching to Increase Appropriate Inhaler Use in COPD

Health Coaching to Increase Appropriate Inhaler Use in COPD

Health coaching may provide a scalable model that can improve care for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Baseline adherence and inhaler technique were uniformly poor and did not differ by... read more