Stories Category: Intensive Care
Successful Long-Term ECMO for Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is an established life-saving procedure for severe acute respiratory failure due to various causes. Long-term extracorporeal membrane oxygenation might be considered if the primary causes... read more
A Methodological Study to Develop a Standard Protocol for Central Line Catheter Care of ICU Patients
This study aims to develop a standard operational protocol (SOP) for central line catheter care for nurses. Central line based infection is the most significant complication in critical care setting. It is a challenge for... read more
Delays in Antibiotic Administration for Sepsis
Todd Fraser, MD, speaks with Christopher W. Seymour, MD, MSc, about the article, "Delays From First Medical Contact to Antibiotic Administration for Sepsis," published in Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Seymour's article contends... read more
Controlled Trial to Improve Resident Sign-out in a Medical ICU
Poor sign-out or handover of care may lead to preventable patient harm. Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU) are complex and prone to rapid clinical deterioration. If clinical deterioration occurs, timeliness... read more
Whole Body Hyperthermia Appeared to Reduce Depression Symptoms
Whole-body hyperthermia holds promise as a safe, rapid-acting, antidepressant modality with a prolonged therapeutic benefit. Results from the current study suggest that WBH holds promise as a safe, rapid-acting, antidepressant... read more
Candida Auris a “Perfect Storm” Superbug
How an invasive fungus got health officials' attention. Try as they might, the infection control specialists at Royal Brompton Hospital could not eradicate the invasive fungus that was attacking already gravely ill patients... read more
Increased ICU Costs for Opioid Overdoses
ICU costs for treating opioid overdose patients increased 58% in a seven-year span, and annual deaths almost doubled, according to a study that included 162 academic hospitals. ICU admissions increased 34% over the study... read more
Extended ICU Visitation Model Reduces Delirium
In this medical-surgical ICU, an extended visitation model was associated with reduced occurrence of delirium and shorter length of delirium/coma and ICU stay. Two hundred eighty-six patients were enrolled (141 restricted... read more
Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration
EBUS-TBNA is a safe procedure. The highest complication rate reported is 1.44%. Additionally, the scope damage could be encountered in 1.33% of cases and occasionally the TBNA needle could malfunction. The complications are... read more
Building Critical Care Community Through Twitter Chat
Twitter chats can be a powerful tool for the widespread engagement of a medical audience. Social media sites such as Twitter can significantly enhance education and advocacy efforts. In 2013, the American College of Chest... read more
COPD Patients Who Live Alone are Less Active
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who live with a spouse, partner, or other caregiver are more active than patients who live alone, and are also more likely to participate in pulmonary rehabilitation... read more
nutritionDay ICU
An worldwide prevalence study to determine the nutrition practice in the ICUs and the associated outcome across the world, a yearly 1 day cross sectional audit was performed from 2007 to 2013. This very large collaborative... read more
Worldwide Survey of the ABCDEF Bundle in the ICU
The current implementation of the ABCDEF bundle varies across individual components and regions. We identified specific targets for quality improvement and adoption of the ABCDEF bundle. Our data reflect a significant but... read more
Potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy
Acute renal failure and common metabolic disturbances represent potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy. However, a true causal relationship has yet to be demonstrated. Our study confirms... read more
External validation of a biomarker and clinical prediction model for hospital mortality in ARDS
Mortality prediction in ARDS is important for prognostication and risk stratification. However, no prediction models have been independently validated. We validated a mortality prediction model for ARDS that includes age,... read more
Safety Hazards During Intrahospital Transport
A prospective observational study. Data from participant observations of the intrahospital transport process were collected over a period of 3 months. Findings suggest that intrahospital transport is a hazardous process for... read more
Acute Lung Failure – Our Evolving Understanding of ARDS
Since Laennec described the gross pathology of idiopathic anasarca of the lungs in 1821, mortality due to the acute respiratory distress syndrome has been vastly reduced. Yet the poor subsequent condition of ARDS survivors... read more
