Well: Healing Our Beautiful, Broken World from a Hospital in West Africa
Sarah Thebarge, a Yale-trained physician assistant, nearly died of breast cancer at age twenty-seven, but that did not end her deeply felt spiritual calling to medical missions in Africa. Risking her own health, she moved... read more
Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in the ICU
A retrospective study of adult medical patients in 52 hospitals. 27,289 patients with peripherally inserted central catheters placed during hospitalization. Peripherally inserted central catheter use in the ICU is highly... read more
Acute Kidney Injury in Postoperative Shock
Is hyperoncotic albumin administration an unrecognized resuscitation risk factor? The use of hyperoncotic albumin (HA) for shock resuscitation is controversial given concerns about its cost, effectiveness, and potential for... read more
Holographic Telepresence – Taking Trauma Care to the Next Level
Advancing technology is all set to bring in a new era of highly-realistic holographic Telepresence. Throughout the history of science fiction and video gaming, we've seen holograms come in various shapes and sizes. Today,... read more
ICU Patients May Understand Verbal Commands After Acute Brain Injury
A New England Journal of Medicine study shows 1 in 6 clinically unresponsive ICU patients show electroencephalography (EEG) patterns of brain activity when spoken to soon after acute brain injury. A dissociation between the... read more
Recognizing Acute Delirium as Part of Your Routine
The screening tool (RADAR) proved to be efficient, reliable, sensitive and very well accepted by nursing staff. Consequently, it becomes an appropriate new option for delirium screening among older adults, with or without... read more
Critical Illness and Cardiac Dysfunction in Anthracycline-Exposed Pediatric Oncology Patients
Children with cancer who received anthracyclines, especially at higher doses, and who develop cardiac dysfunction are at higher risk of critical illness, have higher rates of multiple organ dysfunction and higher rates of... read more
Factors Nurses in the ICU Consider When Making Decisions About Patient Mobility
Nurses are often responsible for mobilizing patients, but how they overcome barriers and make decisions to mobilize patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is not understood. Deciding to mobilize patients in the ICU... read more
High-flow Oxygen Therapy for Treating Bronchiolitis in Infants
Bronchiolitis is the most common reason for hospitalization in infants worldwide. Current recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics are for supportive care including maintenance of hydration and oxygen support... read more
Airway Closure during Surgical Pneumoperitoneum in Obese Patients
In obese patients, complete airway closure is frequent during anesthesia and is worsened by Trendelenburg pneumoperitoneum, which increases airway opening pressure and alveolar pressure: besides preventing alveolar derecruitment,... read more
Randomized Controlled Trial of Health Coaching for Vulnerable Patients with COPD
These results help inform expectations regarding the limitations and benefits of health coaching for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). They may be useful to health policy experts in assessing the... read more
Early Mobilization on CRRT is Safe and May Improve Filter Life
Despite studies demonstrating benefit, patients with femoral vascular catheters placed for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) are frequently restricted from mobilization. No researchers have reported filter pressures... read more
Vasopressors and Inotropes for Shock Syndromes
Vasopressors and inotropes are cornerstones in the management of shock syndromes. Understanding vasopressors' receptor activity and resultant pharmacological response enables clinicians to select the ideal vasopressor(s)... read more
A hospital-wide intervention replacing ceftriaxone with cefotaxime to reduce rate of HAI in the ICU
Over the last decades, the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE) involved in poor outcomes has dramatically increased worldwide.... read more
Procalcitonin-Guided Antimicrobial Therapy in Critical Care
Procalcitonin guidance for antibiotic cessation improves short-term mortality in ICU patients. Previous meta-analyses showed that procalcitonin-guided antimicrobial management, compared with standard care, resulted in less... read more
Transcutaneous CO2 vs. End-tidal CO2 in Neonates and Infants Undergoing Surgery
EtCO2 underestimates PvCO2 values in neonates and infants under general anesthesia. TcPCO2 closely approximates venous blood gas values, in both the NICU and non-NICU samples. We, therefore, conclude that tcPCO2 is a more... read more
Effect of Single-Dose Dexmedetomidine on Intraoperative Hemodynamics and Postoperative Recovery during Pediatric Adenotonsillectomy
Premedication of dexmedetomidine at the dose of 1 μg/kg in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy resulted in favorable effect on intraoperative hemodynamics, significant decrease in postoperative EA without causing any... read more
Steroids in Septic Shock – Four Misconceptions and One Truth
The utility of steroids in sepsis has been debated passionately for decades. There is hope that steroids might improve mortality, but also fear that they could increase infectious complications. Practice varies widely. What... read more
The association between intravenous fluid resuscitation and mortality in older emergency department patients with suspected infection
Recent studies suggest that hypotension thresholds in current guidelines might be too low for older patients due to arterial stiffening, possibly leading to insufficient fluid resuscitation. We compared intravenous (IV) fluid... read more
Integrating host response and unbiased microbe detection for lower respiratory tract infection diagnosis in critically ill adults
Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are the leading cause of infectious disease-related deaths worldwide yet remain challenging to diagnose because of limitations in existing microbiologic tests. In critically ill... read more
Poor Communication Between Physicians and Nurses Linked to Patient Catheter Issues
Communication is contextual, and improving physician-nurse communication about appropriate catheter use may require innovations that address the identified contextual barriers. Several barriers to communication between physicians... read more
Hospitals Delay Use Of New Antibiotics
According to a new study published in Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, US hospitals on average waited more than a year to prescribe any of six new antibiotics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration... read more
