Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Pain, Agitation/Sedation, Delirium, Immobility, and Sleep Disruption in Adult Patients in the ICU
Under the auspices of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, this executive summary aims to provide the most clinically meaningful and novel aspects, by section, of the PADIS guidelines that clinicians, stakeholders, and... read more
Intensive care in severe malaria: Report from the task force on tropical diseases by the WFSICCM
Severe malaria is common in tropical countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South and Central America. It may also occur in travelers returning from endemic areas. Plasmodium falciparum accounts for most cases, although P... read more
Effectively Expressing Empathy to Improve ICU Care
In nearly every intensive care unit (ICU) at every pediatric hospital across the country, physicians hold numerous care conferences with patients' family members daily. Due to the challenging nature of many these conversations--covering... read more
Effect of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic treatment on clinical outcomes in ICU patients with infection and sepsis patients
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic treatment in ICU patients with infection and sepsis patients results in improved survival and lower antibiotic treatment duration. Mortality in the 2252 procalcitonin-guided patients was significantly... read more
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