Study Shows How Bacteria Spread from Sink Drainpipes to Patients
Many recent reports have found multidrug resistant bacteria living in hospital sink drainpipes, putting them in close proximity to vulnerable patients. But how the bacteria find their way out of the drains, and into patients... read more
Reducing Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections in the ICU
Patients in the ICU are at higher risk for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) due to more frequent use of catheters and lower threshold for obtaining urine cultures. This review provides a summary of CAUTI... read more
ICU May Be Overused for Some COPD, Acute MI, HF Patients
For patients with COPD, heart failure and myocardial infarction, who are not critically ill, a stay in the ICU may be no more beneficial than staying on a ward, according to an analysis just published in the Annals of the... read more
Medicating patients during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which can support gas exchange or hemodynamics in patients with severe respiratory or cardiac failure, has demonstrated considerable evolution over the last decade [1], with a steady... read more
The effects of performance status one week before hospital admission on the outcomes of critically ill patients
PS impairment was associated with worse outcomes independently of other markers of chronic health status, particularly for patients in the medium range of severity of illness. PS impairment was moderate in 17.3 % and severe... read more
Hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis: Can we defuse the bomb?
Hypertriglyceridemia causes ~9% of pancreatitis, the third most common cause after alcohol and gallstones. It is a risk factor for severe pancreatitis, making it more frequent among ICU patients with pancreatitis. I see... read more
Ultrasound-guided Pleural Effusion Drainage With a Small Catheter Using the Single-step Trocar or Modified Seldinger Technique
Ultrasound-guided pleural effusion drainage by catheter insertion is a safe and effective procedure. The success rate is low when the effusion is loculated and septated. Both the trocar and the modified Seldinger techniques... read more
One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable
Johns Hopkins Study Shows One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable. For some hospital patients, going on a ventilator is often the difference between life and death. About 800,000 hospital patients... read more
Hemodynamic Support after Cardiac Surgery
Low cardiac output syndrome is a common complication of cardiac surgery and is associated with increased mortality. Levosimendan has been shown in small studies to be an effective therapy.... read more
Teen Who Walked While On Life Support is Home from Hospital
For the past 467 days, Zei Uwadia has been hospitalized on life support -- but that hasn't kept the quiet-natured teenager from walking, eating her favorite foods or even doing planks as exercise. Now, with determination... read more
Antifungal Treatment in the ICU
Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Almost 80% of IFIs are due to Candida spp., which are the third most common isolated microorganisms in the intensive... read more
Probiotic and Synbiotic Therapy in Critical Illness
Critical illness is characterized by a loss of commensal flora and an overgrowth of potentially pathogenic bacteria, leading to a high susceptibility to nosocomial infections. Probiotics are living non-pathogenic microorganisms,... read more
Critical Care Pharmacotherapeutics
Critical Care Pharmacotherapeutics presents information on the fundamentals of critical care practice from a pharmacist's point of view. This accessible text is an excellent introduction to critical care pharmacy. Pharmacy... read more
Enough is Enough (O2 Saturation of 94-96%)
The liberal use of supplemental oxygen therapy in acutely ill adults has a long history in the hospital, but high-quality therapy supporting its practice is unclear. Recently, the role of oxygen therapy in non-hypoxic patients... read more
Electrophysiological Investigations of Peripheral Nerves and Muscles
Resting trans-membrane potential difference (Em) of skeletal muscle is correlated to the energy status of the organism: the more severe the illness, the lower the Em. In 1971, Cunningham demonstrated this association with... read more
Penn Medicine Shortens ICU Stays with Real-time Data
Leveraging real-time data streams from its EHR platform, Penn Medicine has created a dashboard and alerting system to speed the process of getting ICU patients breathing on their own. Many patients in hospital intensive care... read more
Hoopla Aside, hs-cTnI is Not Catching Missed Mis
We have been searching for a tool to identify myocardial infarction patients who are truly safe for discharge ever since Pope, et al., found that we were discharging two percent of patients with MIs from the emergency department.... read more
Aid Tool Does Not Help Care Decisions in Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation
Treatment decisions commonly have to be made in intensive care units (ICUs). These decisions are difficult for surrogate decision makers and often lead to decisional conflict, psychological distress, and treatments misaligned... read more
Secrets of an Intensive Care Doctor
There are few jobs that place you on the frontiers of human existence: midwives see lives into the world, undertakers oversee their departure. In between these beginnings and endings, surgeons, doctors and nurses interact... read more
Medical Dispatchers’ Perception of Visual Information in Real Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest
Providing medical dispatchers with visual information from the location of OHCA might improve their understanding of the OHCA-scenario, which might enhance communication, their ability to guide more bystanders and improve... read more
Widespread use of Chlorhexidine Doesn’t Promote Resistance in S. Aureus
Investigators from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Division of Infectious Diseases recently published reassuring data indicating that use of chlorhexidine (CHG) to bathe hospitalized patients does not lead... read more
The Effect of Defining COPD by the Lower Limit of Normal of FEV1/FVC Ratio in TIOSPIR Participants
Using the lower limit of normal to define airflow obstruction would have excluded patients in TIOtropium Safety and Performance In Respimat study with a higher risk of nonfatal major adverse cardiovascular events and a lower... read more
