Management of COPD exacerbations: a European Respiratory Society/American Thoracic Society guideline

This document provides clinical recommendations for treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. This recommendation places a high value on improving clinical outcomes and a lower value on the burden... read more

Milestones in Critical Care

Take a look back at some of Critical Care's milestones over the past 20 years. In the past 20 years, the journal has contributed to improving the care of critically ill patients by acquiring, discussing, distributing... read more

The Current State of Glycaemic Control Practice

Study involving intensivists from 90 ICUs in northwest Europe confirms significant variability in glycaemic control practices. The study confirmed that there are still controversies over what constitutes optimal glucose management... read more

NAM’s Vital Directions for Health and Health Care Initiative

Recent discussion has focused on questions related to the repeal and replacement of portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, issues central to the future of health and health care in the United States transcend... read more

Priority Levels in Intensive Care at an Academic Public Hospital

This prospective study of medical records determined the proportion of medical ICU patients in each priority group within a tertiary care academic public hospital. Critical care services can be life-saving, but many patients... read more

Vitamin D and outcomes in adult critically ill patients

In critically ill patients, vitamin D administration might be associated with a reduction in mortality without significant adverse events. A large multicenter randomized trial should conclusively confirm these findings. Seven... read more

Implementation of a Clinical Documentation Improvement Curriculum Improves Quality Metrics

Clinical documentation improvement/ICD-10 training in an academic surgery department is an effective method to improve documentation rates, increase the hospital estimated reimbursement based on more accurate CD, and provide... read more

What’s new in the extracorporeal treatment of sepsis?

Clinical research has shown that endotoxin is indeed circulating in the blood of up to 50% of sepsis shock patients and associated with impaired clinical outcome. In view of the pivotal role of endotoxin in sepsis patients,... read more

Why physician mindfulness could improve patient care and prevent health care disparities

Most recently, we hypothesized that mindfulness might have even further benefits for patients, in terms of reducing racial and ethnic inequalities in care. Studies have shown health care providers hold implicit racial and... read more

Efficacy of Oral Risperidone, Haloperidol, or Placebo for Symptoms of Delirium Among Patients in Palliative Care

In patients receiving palliative care, individualized management of delirium precipitants and supportive strategies result in lower scores and shorter duration of target distressing delirium symptoms than when risperidone... read more

New AAMC Research Reaffirms Looming Physician Shortage

The United States will face a shortage of between 40,800 and 104,900 physicians by 2030, according to a new study commissioned by the AAMC. Released March 14, 2017, the study found that the numbers of new primary care physicians... read more

Moderate Exercise and Oxygen Consumption in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

This randomized clinical trial assesses whether moderate-intensity exercise training, compared with usual activity, improves exercise capacity in adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. During a 5-year period, 728 adult... read more

The ICM research agenda on ICU-acquired weakness

Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired weakness (ICUAW) develops as a complication of critical illness and may represent the extreme end of a spectrum of weakness that begins with any serious illness regardless of care location.... read more

Preadmission Oral Corticosteroids Are Associated With Reduced Risk of ARDS in Critically Ill Adults With Sepsis

The unadjusted occurrence rate of acute respiratory distress syndrome within 96 hours of ICU admission was 35% among patients who had received oral corticosteroids compared with 42% among those who had not (p = 0.107). In... read more

Vasopressors: Future Research

Margaret Parker, MD, MCCM, speaks with Lakhmir S. Chawla, MD, about future research related to the Congress session "Bench-Pressing in the ICU: Which Vasopressor Agent Should I Choose for My Patient?" which he presented... read more

The Emotional Toll of Treating Victims of Violence

Hospital leaders are implementing several techniques to address the lasting trauma of disaster emergencies. Hospital disaster drills often focus on transporting patients to the emergency department and moving them into the... read more

Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Coutinho et al have performed a timely post hoc analysis consisting of a patient population from 2 large, prospective, core laboratory–adjudicated trials: Solitaire With the Intention for Thrombectomy (SWIFT) and Solitaire... read more

Funding for NIH Would Be Cut 18% Under Budget

Funding for the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s premier medical research funding agency, would be cut by 18%, or $5.8 billion, from levels enacted for fiscal 2017, under the Trump administration budget.... read more

The Toll of Death and Disability From Traumatic Injury in the United States

This viewpoint describes the lack of funding for trauma research as a possible cause of increasing mortality rates from traumatic injury. In a seminal 1966 report, the National Research Council (NRC) declared that unintentional... read more

Decision Making Model Enables Resolution of Ethics Issues at the Bedside

A study from Switzerland that evaluated implementation of a stepped ethical decision-making model on three intensive care units (ICUs) and two geriatric wards found that it worked well, with staff able to find the time and... read more

Ratio-based Transfusion and Non-trauma Patients

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) urge caution in adopting ratio-based transfusion - a practice previously studied only in patients with severe traumatic injuries - in non-trauma patients. Their study published... read more

Visual Abstracts, A New Strategy for Creating Journal Articles

You might be interested in this initiative arising out of surgery, and primarily developed by Andrew M. Ibrahim MD, MSc of the University of Michigan. Dr. Ibrahim is a Clinical Lecturer in Surgery here and a Robert Wood Johnson... read more