Pretreating red blood cells with nitric oxide may reduce side effect linked to transfusions

Pretreating red blood cells with nitric oxide may reduce side effect linked to transfusions

A new treatment may diminish a dangerous side effect associated with transfusions of red blood cells (RBCs) known as pulmonary hypertension, an elevated blood pressure in the lungs and heart that can lead to heart failure.... read more

Drone Doctors

Drone Doctors

Trials in Australia could be signalling the way ahead for a new role for remotely piloted aircraft in the air medical sphere, as James Paul Wallis reports. Drones have long since proved their worth as an aerial search tool... read more

Blood Cultures Drawn From Arterial Catheters Are Reliable for the Detection of Bloodstream Infection in Critically Ill Children

Blood Cultures Drawn From Arterial Catheters Are Reliable for the Detection of Bloodstream Infection in Critically Ill Children

Arterial catheters may serve as an additional source for blood cultures in children when peripheral venipuncture is challenging. The aim of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of cultures obtained through indwelling arterial... read more

Better AKI Patient Survival Linked to Negative Fluid Balance

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

Lowering systolic blood pressure would save more than 100,000 lives per year, study finds

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

Definitive Global Transfusion Study Supports Patient Safety and Outcomes

Definitive Global Transfusion Study Supports Patient Safety and Outcomes

Lower thresholds for blood transfusions during cardiac surgery have proven to be safe and provide good patient outcomes compared to traditional thresholds, according to the largest research study ever performed in this area.... read more

Can we stop worrying about the age of blood?

Can we stop worrying about the age of blood?

Blood transfusions are common in critically ill patients; two in five adults admitted to an ICU receive at least one transfusion during their hospitalization. Recently, there has been growing concern about the potential dangers... read more

Should Transfusions Be Matched by Sex?

Should Transfusions Be Matched by Sex?

In the first large study to look at how blood transfusions from previously pregnant women affect recipients' health, researchers discovered men under 50 were 1.5 times more likely to die in the three years following a transfusion... read more

Hypertension and Prehypertension Underdiagnosed, Undertreated in U.S. Children

Hypertension and Prehypertension Underdiagnosed, Undertreated in U.S. Children

Hypertension and prehypertension in children often go undiagnosed, according to a new study published in Pediatrics. The study focused on children with abnormal blood pressures across the United States.... read more

Arterial Blood Gas: Time and Motion Study

Arterial Blood Gas: Time and Motion Study

Nursing workload using the Proxima versus standard arterial blood gas sampling Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) sampling is carried out in intensive care units (ICU) every day. Traditionally the nurse takes the blood sample and... read more

Tight Glycemic Control in Critically Ill Children

Tight Glycemic Control in Critically Ill Children

In multicenter studies, tight glycemic control targeting a normal blood glucose level has not been shown to improve outcomes in critically ill adults or children after cardiac surgery. Studies involving critically ill children... read more

Blood Thinner Also Effective for Artery Disease

Blood Thinner Also Effective for Artery Disease

A phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer/Janssen), an oral anticoagulant, for the prevention of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) - including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction,... read more

Critical Care Patients Benefit From Restrictive Transfusion Strategy

Critical Care Patients Benefit From Restrictive Transfusion Strategy

Although a restrictive transfusion strategy significantly reduces the risk for 30-day all-cause mortality in critical care patients, its benefits are less clear in perioperative patients, according to a meta-analysis by a... read more

Pre-Op Screen: What Does A Pulse Oximeter Tell Us?

Pre-Op Screen: What Does A Pulse Oximeter Tell Us?

Routinely utilized in ICUs, operating rooms, and telemetry floors, the pulse oximeter ("pulse ox") is perhaps the single greatest monitoring advancement in the modern medical era. It relies on the fact that oxyhemoglobin... read more