Indicators of ICU Capacity Strain
We identified and characterized 16 indicators of strained ICU capacity across the spectrum of healthcare quality domains. Future work should aim to evaluate their implementation into practice and assess their value for evaluating... read more
Risk of Recurrence After Surviving Severe Sepsis
Risk of recurrence after surviving severe sepsis is substantial regardless of patient characteristics or infection sites. Further research is necessary to find underlying mechanisms for the high risk of recurrence in these... read more
What’s Your Doctor Reading? How Social Media is Disrupting Medical Education
Traditionally, research would be presented at conferences, discussed at meetings, and gradually incorporated into international guidelines and textbooks. It would then filter down into clinical practice, years after its original... read more
Creating a “Manageable Cockpit” for Clinicians
For many clinicians, the work of health care has become undoable. The "cockpit" where physicians and other health professionals work now consists of a cacophony of warning alerts, pop-up messages, mandatory tick boxes, a... read more
Empiric Antibiotics Tend To Be Prolonged in ICU
Using antibiotics in critically ill patients is very much walking a tightrope. No one wants to miss an infection in a patient who could go downhill quickly, but no one wants to overuse these precious drugs, either.... read more
Johns Hopkins Investigators Unravel Biological Roots of Pulmonary Hypertension
Working with cells that line the innermost layer of the blood vessels, Johns Hopkins investigators say they have made a leap forward in understanding the underlying biology behind pulmonary hypertension, a dangerous type... read more
Biomarkers for Prediction of RRT in AKI
Acute kidney injury (AKI) frequently occurs in critically ill patients and often precipitates use of renal replacement therapy (RRT). However, the ideal circumstances for whether and when to start RRT remain unclear. We performed... read more
Which Models Can I Use to Predict Adult ICU Length of Stay? A Systematic Review
No models completely satisfy our requirements for planning, identifying unexpectedly long ICU length of stay, or for benchmarking purposes. Physicians using these models to predict ICU length of stay should interpret them... read more
Incorporating Dynamic Assessment of Fluid Responsiveness Into Goal-Directed Therapy
In adult patients admitted to intensive care who required acute volume resuscitation, goal-directed therapy guided by assessment of fluid responsiveness appears to be associated with reduced mortality, ICU length of stay,... read more
The Emerging Role of the Microbiota in the ICU
The importance of the intestinal and lung microbiotas is often overlooked on the ICU. Currently, we can explore the microbiome using a vast array of techniques, giving us 'meta' libraries of data, which has allowed researchers... read more
New Approach Developed for Diagnosing COPD
Primary care clinicians may soon be able to provide an early diagnosis for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, using a new method. According to researchers, patients with COPD can be diagnosed with the help of... read more
Adaptive servo ventilation cuts atrial fib burden
Adaptive servo ventilation produced a significant and clinically meaningful reduction in atrial fibrillation burden in patients with heart failure and sleep apnea in results from an exploratory, prospective, randomized study... read more
Intra-Abdominal Hypertension Is More Common Than Previously Thought
Intra-abdominal hypertension is common in both surgical and nonsurgical patients in the intensive care setting and was found to be independently associated with mortality. Despite prior reports to the contrary, intra-abdominal... read more
Severe Sepsis Care in the Emergency Department
Drs. John C. Perkins and Michael E. Winters have assembled an expert team of authors on the topic of Sepsis in the Emergency Department. Article topics include: Defining and Diagnosing Sepsis; Appropriate Antibiotic Therapy;... read more
High-Flow Nasal Cannula in Critically Ill Subjects With or at Risk for Respiratory Failure
High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen delivery has been gaining attention as an alternative means of respiratory support for critically ill patients, with recent studies suggesting equivalent outcomes when compared with other... read more
The Association of Frailty with Post-ICU Disability, Nursing Home Admission, and Mortality
Pre-ICU frailty status was associated with increased post-ICU disability and new nursing home admission among ICU survivors, and death among all admissions. Pre-ICU frailty status may provide prognostic information about... read more
ICU Early Mobility – A Concept ICU Bed with Integrated Leg Press
ICU beds that promote muscle recovery not muscle loss. Critical care experts at Johns Hopkins are reporting initial success in boosting recovery and combating muscle wasting among critically ill, mostly bed-bound patients... read more
Association of Delirium With Cognitive Decline in Late Life
Delirium in the presence of the pathologic processes of dementia is associated with accelerated cognitive decline beyond that expected for delirium or the pathologic process itself. These findings suggest that additional... read more
Early Mobility in ICU: From Patient to Physician
In the ICU, motion means life. Dr. Paul Wischmeyer, Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery, Duke University gives an overview of the challenges associated with early mobility in ICU, and the importance of implementing protocols.... read more
Criteria for Identifying Lung Injury Prior to the Need for Positive Pressure Ventilation
Mortality associated with acute lung injury (ALI) remains high. Early identification of ALI prior to onset of respiratory failure may provide a therapeutic window to target in future clinical trials. This study empirically... read more
Risk Factors for HAI After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery
Mechanical ventilation greater than or equal to 3 days, dopamine use, genetic abnormality, and delayed sternal closure were associated with healthcare-associated infections after pediatric cardiac surgery. Since the use of... read more
How Mayo Clinic Is Combating Information Overload in Critical Care Units
Health care teams depend on electronic health records (EHRs) to compile important medical data from innumerable lab tests and medical devices, observations, treatments, and diagnostic codes. We rely on it so much that we... read more
