Battle of Portable Ultrasound Devices
So here is Part 1 of the as promised portable ultrasound reviews. The aim, to un-muddy the water a bit for you all over choice and functionality. There are so many put there at the moment, we wanted to test them on the shop... read more
Initial Inflammatory Profile in Community-acquired Pneumonia Depends on Time since Onset of Symptoms
Time since symptom onset modifies the systemic inflammatory profile at Community-acquired Pneumonia (CAP) diagnosis. This information has relevant clinical implications for management, and it should be taken into account... read more
Hemodynamic Consequences of Severe Lactic Acidosis in Shock States
Deleterious hemodynamic effects of severe lactic acidosis are largely suggested by experimental data, although not fully confirmed by human studies. Pending the effectiveness of an etiological treatment, there is no efficient... read more
Increased Early Systemic Inflammation in ICU-Acquired Weakness
The main objective is to investigate whether patients who develop ICU-acquired weakness have a different pattern of systemic inflammatory markers compared with critically ill patients who do not develop ICU-acquired weakness.... read more
Acute Salicylate Toxicity, Mechanical Ventilation, and Hemodialysis
In patients requiring intubation from acute salicylate toxicity, hemodialysis should be considered as part of management, as this is associated with decreased mortality. Salicylates are common substances that can be purchased... read more
Six Kidney Transplants in 30 Hours at University Hospital of Wales
Any transplant begins with a phone call but on Sunday, the phone in the Cardiff Transplant Unit kept ringing. It was to prove the start of a remarkable few days as specialists at University Hospital of Wales completed six... read more
Gene-silencing Technology Gets First Frug Approval After 20-year Wait
US regulators have approved the first therapy based on RNA interference (RNAi), a technique that can be used to silence specific genes linked to disease. The drug, "patisiran", targets a rare condition that can impair heart... read more
Dying as a Pathway to Death in Sepsis
Mortality from sepsis remains high, with at least 270,000 deaths annually in the United States and more than 5 million deaths worldwide. Despite increasing understanding of the pathophysiology of sepsis, outside of targeted... read more
Music Helps Prevent Delirium in Elderly Critical Care Patients
A randomized controlled trial demonstrates that music intervention to prevent delirium among older patients is one of few strategies that provide support in a critical care setting. This study builds on non-pharmacologic... read more
Can Better Teamwork in the ICU Save Lives?
Effective teamwork is the goal of any workplace. But few settings offer higher stakes than the fast-paced, life-or-death environment of a hospital intensive care unit (ICU). Team collaboration in ICUs is an area ripe for... read more
Travel Times Affect Neurocritical Care Unit Nurse Staffing Levels
For specialist nurses on neurocritical care units, accompanying patients for imaging scans and other procedures has a major impact on nurse staffing ratios, reports a study in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. Over 30... read more
Natriuretic Peptides: A Role in Early Septic Acute Kidney Injury?
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of critical illness and is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and financial cost. Sepsis is the leading association of acute kidney injury in the intensive... read more
Giving plasma in helicopters, before hospital, may save trauma patients
Giving plasma to trauma victims during air transport, rather than waiting until arrival at the hospital, saved lives, according to the results of a study that involved patients treated aboard MetroHealth Medical Center's... read more
Functional Recovery in Critically Ill Children, the “WeeCover” Multicenter Study
This study provides new information regarding functional outcomes and the factors that influence meaningful aspects of functioning in critically ill children. Identifying patients at greatest risk and modifiable targets for... read more
NIH Researchers Discover Highly Infectious Vehicle for Transmission of Viruses Among Humans
Researchers have found that a group of viruses that cause severe stomach illness — including the one famous for widespread outbreaks on cruise ships — get transmitted to humans through membrane-cloaked "virus clusters"... read more
Diagnostic Accuracy of Chest Radiograph, and When Concomitantly Studied Lung Ultrasound, in Critically Ill Patients With Respiratory Symptoms
This meta-analysis demonstrates that chest radiograph has a low sensitivity and reasonable specificity compared with CT for detecting lung pathology in critically ill patients. The studies also investigating lung ultrasound,... read more
Duration of hypotension before initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy is the critical determinant of survival in human septic shock
Effective antimicrobial administration within the first hour of documented hypotension was associated with increased survival to hospital discharge in adult patients with septic shock. Despite a progressive increase in mortality... read more
Delirium, Frailty, and Mortality: Interactions in a Prospective Study of Hospitalized Older People
Although delirium and frailty contribute to mortality, the overall impact of delirium on admission appears to be greater at lower levels of frailty. In contrast to the hypothesis that there is a bimodal distribution for mortality,... read more
Association of Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement for Venous Thromboembolic Disease and a Contraindication to Anticoagulation With 30-Day Mortality
After adjustment for immortal time bias, Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter placement was associated with increased 30-day mortality in patients with venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) and a contraindication to anticoagulation.... read more
Expectations of Recovery: ICU Anecdotes
Most of us believe we know our loved ones' wishes. You may know what your father's favorite meal is or what he enjoys doing on a Sunday afternoon. But do you know if he would want a feeding tube if he can’t eat? These kinds... read more
Timing of Infectious Disease Clinical Rotation Is Associated With Infectious Disease Fellowship Application
During a 7-year period, those interns randomly assigned to rotate on ID in the first 6 months of their intern year were more likely to become future ID applicants. This supports prior self-reported survey data that early... read more
Research Optimizes Comprehensive Medication Management: Defines the Patient Care Process of CMM
The Patient Care Process for Delivering Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) provides a common definition of comprehensive medication management (CMM) and common language to describe the patient care process for delivering... read more
