Feeding Tubes Require Initial and Ongoing Verification to Minimize Complications

Feeding Tubes Require Initial and Ongoing Verification to Minimize Complications

Bedside insertion of a feeding tube may be a common procedure, but poor placement is associated with complications ranging from aspiration to infection, injury and even death.... read more

Capnography best practices to improve patient handoff reports

Capnography best practices to improve patient handoff reports

Use these documentation and handoff tips to communicate important patient information to ED and ICU staff unfamiliar with capnography. Waveform capnography is an example of EMS as an early adopter of emerging technology.... read more

Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is present in 20% of all hospital admissions and contributes to at least 30% of critical care admissions.1 Patients who develop AWS require longer hospitalizations and have extensive medical... read more

Microbiome of ICU Patients Transforms within Days of Admission

Microbiome of ICU Patients Transforms within Days of Admission

A new study shows that intensive care unit (ICU) patients have depleted populations of commensal, health-promoting microbes and higher counts pathogenic strains.... read more

Quiet please in the intensive care unit

Quiet please in the intensive care unit

A new study shows that noise levels in the Intensive Care Unit can go well above recommended levels, disturbing both patients and the medical teams that care for them.... read more

ICUs Might Consider Avoiding Tap Water To Limit Pseudomonas Infections from Faucets

ICUs Might Consider Avoiding Tap Water To Limit Pseudomonas Infections from Faucets

Interview with: Dr. Cohen Regev, M.D Head of the infectious diseases and infection control units Sanz Medical Center, Laniado hospital. The study was conducted in Sanz medical center, a 400-bed community hospital located... read more

Value of Adrenergic Blockade in Acute Severe TBI Questioned

Value of Adrenergic Blockade in Acute Severe TBI Questioned

Adrenergic blockade with the β-blocker propranolol and α2-agonist clonidine did not increase ventilator-free days after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a randomized controlled trial.... read more

Decompressive craniectomy linked with decreased mortality in TBI

Decompressive craniectomy linked with decreased mortality in TBI

Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and refractory intracranial hypertension following 2 stages of standard therapy who were then randomized to receive decompressive craniectomy had lower rates of mortality and higher... read more

Study: Continuous Patient Monitoring Could Save Healthcare $15B

Study: Continuous Patient Monitoring Could Save Healthcare $15B

Continuous patient monitoring can save the US healthcare system up to $15 billion, according to peer-reviewed paper published in Critical Care Medicine.... read more

OCT may speed detection of pneumonia-related bacteria in ICU patients

OCT may speed detection of pneumonia-related bacteria in ICU patients

The ability to better detect and assess bacteria linked to a form of pneumonia prevalent in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) could soon become possible, according to research reported in the latest issue of the Journal... read more

The Perks of Manipulating the Microbiome

The Perks of Manipulating the Microbiome

A patient's microbiome - the bacterial residents that inhabit the skin, mouth and gastrointestinal tract - can face a host of insults while battling an illness or infection. The microbial damage that ensues may significantly... read more

High Prevalence of Depression Following ICU Stays

High Prevalence of Depression Following ICU Stays

Research shows people discharged from intensive care are at a high risk for developing depression, and a new study suggests that number is as high as 1 in 3.... read more

Communication App Helps Patients Voice Their Needs

Communication App Helps Patients Voice Their Needs

An innovative tablet-based application offers intubated and ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients a way to converse with their medical staff.... read more

Supporting clinical research with an intensive-care database

Supporting clinical research with an intensive-care database

Crowdsourcing clinical data from some 40,000 patients could vastly improve research and critical-care decisions.... read more