Stories Category: Intensive Care
Effect of Procalcitonin-guided Antibiotic Treatment on Mortality in Acute Respiratory Infections
Use of procalcitonin to guide antibiotic treatment in patients with acute respiratory infections reduces antibiotic exposure and side-effects, and improves survival. Widespread implementation of procalcitonin protocols in... read more
50 Years of Research in ARDS
Mechanical ventilation (MV) is critical in the management of many patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, MV can also cause ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). The selection of an appropriate... read more
Spotlight Interview: The World of Fluids
Looking at the data from a new perspective, the article "Both Positive and Negative Fluid Balance May Be Associated With Reduced Long-Term Survival in the Critically Ill" published in Critical Care Medicine in August 2017,... read more
Health Canada Eyes Opioid Restrictions for Popular Painkiller
Health Canada has launched a review of the increasingly popular pharmaceutical drug tramadol – a move that could prompt the department to reverse its controversial, decade-old decision not to classify the medication as... read more
Challenges and Opportunities for a Precision Medicine Approach to Critical Illness
Precision medicine in critical care is a key part of our present and future. However, many challenges limit its application for all patients in the ICU. Complex acute illness among patients with multi-morbidity, integrated... read more
Restrictive or Liberal Red-Cell Transfusion for Cardiac Surgery
In patients undergoing cardiac surgery who were at moderate-to-high risk for death, a restrictive strategy regarding red-cell transfusion was noninferior to a liberal strategy with respect to the composite outcome of death... read more
Critical Care Cycling Study (CYCLIST) Trial Protocol
Critical Care Cycling Study (CYCLIST) trial protocol: a randomised controlled trial of usual care plus additional in-bed cycling sessions versus usual care in the critically ill. In-bed cycling with patients with critical... read more
Kinetic Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate in Critically Ill Patients
Both the Acute kidney injury (AKI) classification system and the nonsteady-state (kinetic) estimated glomerular filtration rate (KeGFR) are complementary to each other. Assessing both AKI stage and KeGFR can help to identify... read more
Effect of Azithromycin on Asthma Exacerbations and Quality of Life in Adults with Persistent Uncontrolled Asthma
Adults with persistent symptomatic asthma experience fewer asthma exacerbations and improved quality of life when treated with oral azithromycin for 48 weeks. Azithromycin might be a useful add-on therapy in persistent asthma.... read more
Multicenter Assessment of Sedation and Delirium Practices in the ICU in Poland
A majority of Polish ICUs do not adhere to international guidelines regarding sedation and delirium practices. There continues to be inadequate use of sedation and delirium monitoring tools. High usage of benzodiazepines... read more
Excess Ventilation in COPD-Heart Failure Overlap
Heightened neural drive promoting a ventilatory response beyond that required to overcome an increased "wasted" ventilation led to hypocapnia and poor exercise ventilatory efficiency in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease–heart... read more
Promoting High-Value Practice by Reducing Unnecessary Transfusions With a Patient Blood Management Program
Although blood transfusion is a lifesaving therapy for some patients, transfusion has been named 1 of the top 5 overused procedures in US hospitals. As unnecessary transfusions only increase risk and cost without providing... read more
Pearls and Pitfalls in Comprehensive Critical Care Echocardiography
Comprehensive critical care echocardiography is a useful, rapid and non-invasive method to both diagnose pathology and monitor treatment response in the critically ill. Although growing dramatically in use around the world,... read more
Better AKI Patient Survival Linked to Negative Fluid Balance
Optimal fluid management of critically ill patients with or at risk for acute kidney injury (AKI) is still uncertain. Now a new prospective study from India confirms that patients with negative fluid balance live longer.... read more
Taking Care of the Physician
There is increasing conversation about "physician wellness" these days, as we look at how young doctors are trained, and at the physical, emotional and spiritual pathways of those who are supposedly (and arduously and extensively)... read more
Lowering systolic blood pressure would save more than 100,000 lives per year, study finds
Intensive treatment to lower systolic (top number) blood pressure to below 120 would save more than 100,000 lives per year in the United States, say scientists. Two thirds of the lives saved would be men and two thirds would... read more
Long-Term Cognitive Impairment after Critical Illness
Patients in medical and surgical ICUs are at high risk for long-term cognitive impairment. A longer duration of delirium in the hospital was associated with worse global cognition and executive function scores at 3 and 12... read more
