Seven Signs of Life encompasses intensive care stories centered around patients and as a means to explain the ICU to the non-clinician. However, Aoife Abbey organises her book by emotion, not by body system. This clever structure... read more

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 patients... read more

After an overwhelming infection sent O’Burke into five-organ failure, he also developed ICU delirium, perhaps related to heavy sedation. An ICU protocol developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center found that getting... read more

Following in the wake of hugely successful medical memoirs such as Do No Harm and Fragile Lives, Critical is an intelligent, compelling and profoundly insightful journey into the world of intensive care medicine and the lives... read more

Levosimendan has been demonstrated to have potential utility in a range of critical illness scenarios. It must be acknowledged, however, that in each sphere of application, the evidence is incomplete or indicative rather... read more

This study investigated the incidence of delayed norepinephrine administration following the onset of septic shock and its effect on hospital mortality. Our results show that early administration of norepinephrine in septic... read more

Dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DA-CPR) was not associated with better outcomes for traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in achieving a short-term sustained return of spontaneous circulation... read more

Neuromuscular blocking agents play a significant role in improving the success rate for urgent intubation, although there is limited evidence about the effect on subsequent outcomes, such as the incidence of tracheostomy.... read more

Your Must-Have Guide for Navigating the ICU The House Officer’s Guide to ICU Care is an eminently practical handbook for junior house officers, medical students, PAs, and nurses that offers nuts-and-bolts guidelines... read more

In a population-based registry, 4% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) were treated with extracorporeal-CPR, which was not associated with increased hospital survival. Early extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)... read more

The absence of the somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) N20 cortical wave remains one of the most reliable early prognostic tools for identifying unfavorable neurologic outcome in the evaluation of patients with severe anoxic-ischemic... read more

The purpose of this trial is to investigate the efficacy and safety of continuous intravenous administration of low dose iloprost versus placebo for 72-hours, in up to a total of 380 patients with septic shock suffering from... read more

No differences found in pulmonary function in patients reversed with sugammadex or neostigmine in a high-risk population. 126 patients were included in the main analysis. In the neostigmine group (n = 64), mean (95% confidence... read more

Patients with low severity signs of infection but high MR-proADM concentrations had an increased likelihood of subsequent disease progression, delayed antibiotic administration or ICU admission. Appropriate triage decisions... read more

Enrichment reduces heterogeneity and will enhance the sensitivity of future trials. However, enrichment, even when it identifies more homogenous populations, may not be efficient to deploy in trials or clinical practice.... read more

Critically ill patients come to the ED all the time and it is almost reflexive to liberally administer oxygen in these acutely ill patients. Many providers may consider supplemental oxygen a harmless and potentially beneficial... read more

Mechanical ventilation is an essential life-sustaining therapy for many critically-ill patients. As technology has evolved, clinicians have been presented with an increasing number of ventilator options as well as an ever-expanding... read more

The optimal treatment for multidrug-resistant A. baumannii pneumonia has not been established. New therapeutic options are urgently needed. Well designed, randomized controlled trials must been conducted to comprehensively... read more