Measuring Moral Distress Among Critical Care Clinicians

Moral distress is a common experience among critical care professionals, leading to frustration, withdrawal from patient care, and job abandonment. The Italian Moral Distress Scale-Revised is a valid and reliable instrument... read more

Glutamine, fish oil and antioxidants in critical illness

We hypothesize that the harmful effect of IMHP compared to HP enteral nutrition in a heterogeneous group of critically ill patients is limited to the medical critically ill patients and mediated by an early increase in (epa... read more

Anesthesiologist reaction time increased after night call

For anesthesiologists, reaction time increases after a night call, with greater increases seen in correlation with reliance on avoidance as a coping mechanism. Post-call psychomotor vigilance test mean reaction time decreased... read more

End-Inspiratory Pause Prolongation in ARDS Patients

Prolonging EIP allowed a significant decrease in Vt without changes in PaCO2 in passively ventilated ARDS patients. This produced a significant decrease in plateau pressure and driving pressure and significantly increased... read more

Blood Products Can Safely be Transported by Drones

Blood products don't seem to suffer damage when transported by drones, researchers report. Large bags of blood products, such as those transfused into patients everyday, can maintain temperature and cellular integrity... read more

Non-invasive Respiratory Support and Methylxanthines Reduce Re-Intubations

In a meta-analysis of randomized studies evaluating efforts to reduce re-intubations and respiratory failure in preterm infants, non-invasive respiratory support and use of methylxanthines (theophylline, caffeine) were found... read more

VR Technology for Surgical Procedures Planning

Researchers at the University of Basel in Switzerland developed a technology that uses CT data to generate 3-D images that can be viewed in a virtual environment to help surgeons as they plan surgical procedures. The technology,... read more

Therapy Implications for Immunomodulation After Ischemic Stroke

Despite significant advances towards a better understanding of the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke-induced immunosuppression and SAP in recent years, many unanswered questions remain. The true incidence and outcomes of... read more

Fibromyalgia as marker for seizures less reliable

The specificity of fibromyalgia as a marker for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures is less reliable than previously described, results from a large analysis showed. Fibromyalgia may not be as reliable a clinical indicator... read more

The role of POC Diagnostics in Combatting Antibiotic Resistance

During the winter months, patients frequently present with respiratory symptoms like coughing, sneezing and fever that could be caused by one of several bacterial and viral infections including influenza, respiratory syncytial... read more

Sleep Duration Correlated with Lower Odds of Hyperglycemia

For hospitalized patients, additional sleep and increased sleep efficiency correlate with lower odds of hyperglycemia and impaired fasting glucose. The researchers found that 34 percent of the participants had diabetes, and... read more

Randomised trials role in surgery

In medical science, as in all walks of life, we are impressed by dramatic effects.  If a new treatment seems much better than an old one initially, there is often impatience to get on and use it, and people question why... read more

Hemodialysis Patients who skipped influenza vaccine more likely to be hospitalized

Hemodialysis patients who skipped vaccination were 53% more likely to be hospitalized during the flu season the first year, 87% more likely to be hospitalized the second year, and 158% more likely to be hospitalized the third... read more

Three-year mortality in 30 day survivors of critical care with AKI

Acute kidney injury was not an independent risk factor for 3-year mortality among 30-day survivors. Increased 3-year mortality among patients with AKI who survive critical illness may not be related to AKI per se, but rather... read more

Wires and Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters

An increasing number of patients are being admitted to critical care units with multiple chronic medical conditions. In some of these patients, intravenous access is a challenge. With a concern for indwelling catheter infections,... read more

CMS Quality Payment Program Website Updated to Enable Data-sharing

CMS recently added a new tool to its Quality Payment Program website that will help vendors create important software for physician practices. The tool itself is an application program interface (API) that was created to... read more

Hospital Groups Warn that Repealing Obamacare Could Trigger Public Health Crisis

The American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) have expressed concerns that repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) could cause hospitals to lose billions... read more

RSNA attendees warned by FBI about the threat of radiation theft from hospitals

FBI and Department of Energy reps briefed a room full of RSNA attendees in Chicago last week about a growing litany of concerns ranging from disgruntled medical employees stealing radioactive materials, to patients setting... read more

Antibiotic therapy advances in the critically ill

Key issues related to antibiotic management in the critically ill, including problems associated with timing, duration, and dosing of antibiotics. The authors highlighted the importance of early diagnosis of infection and... read more

Quality of Outpatient Care Delivered to Adults in USA

This cross-sectional survey study measures changes in outpatient quality and patient experience in the United States from 2002 to 2013 to determine whether efforts to improve outpatient quality have been successful. Three... read more

Improving Appropriate Neurologic Prognostication after Cardiac Arrest

A multicenter quality intervention improved rates of appropriate neurologic prognostication after OHCA but did not increase survival with good neurologic outcome. This was a pragmatic stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled... read more

Neuroprotective Effects of the Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Analog Exenatide After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Acute administration of exenatide to comatose patients in the ICU after OHCA is feasible and safe. Exenatide did not reduce neuron-specific enolase levels and did not significantly improve a composite end point of death and... read more