Prognostic Accuracy of the Serum Lactate Level, the SOFA Score and the qSOFA Score for Mortality Among Adults with Sepsis

Sepsis is a common critical condition caused by the body’s overwhelming response to certain infective agents. Many biomarkers, including the serum lactate level, have been used for sepsis diagnosis and guiding treatment.... read more

High-flow Oxygen Through Nasal Cannula in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure

In patients with nonhypercapnic acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, treatment with high-flow oxygen, standard oxygen, or noninvasive ventilation did not result in significantly different intubation rates. There was a significant... read more

Applied Physiology at the Bedside: Volumetric Capnography

Volumetric capnography is the graphical representation of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2) versus exhaled volume. This measurement is made noninvasively at every breath by a combination of flow and CO2 sensors,... read more

Textbook of Critical Care

Comprehensive, concise, and readable, Textbook of Critical Care, 7th Edition, brings you fully up to date with the effective management of critically ill patients, providing the evidence-based guidance you need to overcome... read more

Textbook of Critical Care

Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients Who Received Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Although overall survival of ICU patients was 15.9%, patients requiring pressors and who experienced a CPA in an ICU were half as likely to survive to discharge and to be discharged home than patients not taking pressors.... read more

Teaching the Principles of Pediatric Critical Care to Non-Intensivists in Resource Limited Settings

It is a dismal reality of global health that the vast majority of critically ill or injured children are found in regions of the world least equipped to care for them. Most of these severely ill or injured children are cared... read more

Continuous RRT – Understanding Circuit Hemodynamics to Improve Therapy Adequacy

The utilization of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) increases throughout the world. Technological improvements have made its administration easier and safer. However, CRRT remains associated with numerous pitfalls... read more

The Continuing Saga of Nurse Staffing

Registered nurses are the backbone of America's health systems, providing care and support to patients across the lifespan. Appropriate nurse staffing is critical to ensure safe and effective care for patients. Nurse staffing... read more

Moving On as an ICU Family After the Death of a Respected Leader

Paul Young is an intensive care specialist at Wellington Hospital in New Zealand where he is the co-clinical leader at Wellington ICU. He is also medical director of Wakefield Hospital ICU, Deputy Director at the Medical... read more

ICU Physiology in 1000 Words: The Mean Systemic Filling Pressure

Consider sitting deep within the hull of this cruise ship, ignorant to the outside. A leak is sprung and ocean begins to rush in. Thinking quickly you activate the bilge pump which, appropriately, ejects the ocean outside... read more

Hospital Variation in RRT for Sepsis in the United States

Use of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in sepsis varied widely among nationally sampled hospitals without associated differences in mortality. Improving renal replacement standards for the initiation of therapy for sepsis... read more

The Association Between Visiting Intensivists and ICU Outcomes

During a period of service reconfiguration, intensivists routinely rostered to work in one ICU worked in another of the hospital's four ICUs. "Home" intensivists were those who continued to work in their usual... read more

Optimizing Ceftolozane-tazobactam Dosage in Critically Ill Patients During Continuous Venovenous Hemodiafiltration

Ceftolozane-tazobactam (C/T), the combination of a new cephalosporin with a classic β-lactamase inhibitor, is currently considered the most active betalactam antibiotic against P. aeruginosa. Despite several case reports... read more

In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

In-hospital cardiac arrest is common and associated with a high mortality rate. Despite this, in-hospital cardiac arrest has received little attention compared with other high-risk cardiovascular conditions, such as stroke,... read more

Oliguria and AKI in Critically Ill Children

Nearly one in five critically ill children with acute kidney injury (AKI) do not experience increase in serum creatinine. These acute kidney injury events, which are only identified by urine output criteria, are associated... read more

TCR Activation Mimics CD127 low PD-1 high Phenotype and Functional Alterations of T Lymphocytes from Septic Shock Patients

The proportion of CD127lowPD-1high T cells in patients was increased compared with healthy volunteers, although no global CD127 regulation was observed. Our results suggest that TCR activation participates in the occurrence... read more

The Great Debate Between Balanced and Unbalanced Crystalloids Continues

This meta-analysis contributes very little to the current discussion mainly because of the heterogeneity of included studies. The use of fluid type in different pathologies isn't really what we need, but rather tailored use... read more

Contemporary Management of Cardiogenic Shock

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a multifactorial and hemodynamically diverse high-acuity illness that is frequently associated with multisystem organ failure. The complexity of CS requires a widespread application of best-care... read more

Obesity Improves Short-term Survival in Sepsis

In a large cohort study of 55,038 adults hospitalized with sepsis, short-term mortality (death or hospice) was lower in overweight and obese patients compared with those with normal body mass indices (both unadjusted and... read more

A Prospective Investigation of Interleukin-8 Levels in Pediatric ARF and ARDS

The association of plasma interleukin-8 (IL-8), or IL-8 genetic variants, with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) in children with acute respiratory failure (ARF) at risk for PARDS has not been examined.... read more

Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist decreases work of breathing during non-invasive ventilation in infants with severe bronchiolitis

In this physiological study, we report an improvement of respiratory unloading by adding a second level of pressure with NAVA in infants with severe bronchiolitis. WOB decreased immediately after switching to NAVA, as reported... read more

The EXACT Protocol

The EXACT protocol: a multi-centre, single-blind, randomised, parallel-group, controlled trial to determine whether early oxygen titration improves survival to hospital discharge in adult OHCA patients. This study will determine... read more