Rethinking Energy and Protein Provision for Critically Ill Patients

In critically ill patients, we suggest that energy and protein be delivered progressively in stable or recovering patients. If a patient deteriorates, regardless of days spent in the ICU, low-dose energy and protein should... read more

Early Tracheostomy in Ventilated COVID-19 Patients Reduces VAP Incidence

Tracheostomy can reduce mechanical ventilation (MV) duration, ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS), and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) risk in critically ill patients. The timing of tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients... read more

Antibiotic prophylaxis reduced broad-spectrum antibiotics and length of stay in ICU patients with alcohol withdrawal induced refractory delirium tremens

Administration of TMP-SMX prophylaxis reduced the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and ICU LOS in ICU-treated rDT patients. The retrospective study design should be considered when interpreting the results, and prospective... read more

Severe ICU-Acquired Hypernatremia: Prevalence, Risk Factors, Trajectory, Management, and Outcome

Severe hypernatremia occurred in the setting of inability to drink, near-absent measurement of urinary free water losses, diuretic therapy, fever, renal impairment, and near-absent or limited or delayed water administration.... read more

Awake, Walking, and Intubated – The ICU Breakthrough Giving Patients Their Lives Back

If they knew what it's like for patients surviving after the ICU, that sedation isn't sleep, and that they're being so traumatized and damaged by these normal practices, they would change this. Picture this: it's your... read more

Researchers to Study Online Therapy’s Potential to Prevent Cognitive Decline in ICU Survivors

Researchers from Indiana University Indianapolis, Regenstrief Institute and the IU School of Medicine’s Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center – led by Babar Khan, M.D., M.S., Sophia Wang, M.D., and Jesse Stewart,... read more

Pitfalls in the Management of Mechanical Ventilation: ARDS and Hypermetabolic States

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a lifesaving intervention for patients with respiratory failure due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and septic shock. ARDS was first recognized in the late 1960s, approximately... read more

Non-Intensive Care Unit Feasibility for Ambulatory VV-ECMO Patients

Our data suggests that ambulatory veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) patients may tolerate less than ICU level of care and may even progress to outpatient management as ECMO technology continues to... read more

Impacts of Initial ICU Driving Pressure on Outcomes in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure

Driving pressure (DP) is a marker of severity of lung injury in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and has a strong association with outcome. However, it is uncertain whether limiting DP can reduce... read more

Implementing a Bedside Percutaneous Tracheostomy and Ultrasound Gastrostomy Team Reduces Length of Stay and Hospital Costs

Thousands of critically ill patients every year in the United States receive tracheostomy and gastrostomy procedures. Recent research has investigated the benefits of a combined team approach to these procedures, with associated... read more

Predictors of Weaning Failure in Ventilated ICU Patients

Predictors for weaning failure are widely researched. To date, 145 predictors have been investigated with varying intensity in 140 studies that are in line with the current weaning definition. It is no longer just individual... read more

Skin Decontamination to Prevent ICU Infections

Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections can be serious complications of medical care of critically ill patients. Despite multiple tested and implemented preventive measures for such infections, their incidence is persistently... read more

Evidence-Based Critical Care

This is the premier evidence-based textbook in critical care medicine. The Third Edition features updated and revised chapters, numerous new references, streamlined content, and new chapters on key topics such as the new... read more

Evidence-Based Critical Care

Preventing VAP Non-Pharmacologically

In critically ill, intubated patients on intensive care unit (ICU), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a significant complication contributing to substantial mortality, morbidity, and prolonged stays, which in turn... read more

ARDS and Prone Positioning

Prone positioning has been a treatment option for acute respiratory distress syndrome in critically ill patients. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, awake prone positioning has been utilized as a treatment option for non-intubated... read more

How I Perform Diaphragmatic Ultrasound in the ICU

The diaphragm is a thin, dome-shaped muscle, comprising a costal and crural part, and a non-contracting central tendon. Muscle fiber activation shortens and thickens the diaphragm in the zone of apposition, moving the dome... read more

The Paracetamol Challenge in ICU

Paracetamol is one of the most widely prescribed medications in critically ill patients. Our intensive care unit (ICU) administered 50.133 g of paracetamol in 2023 (16.230 intravenous [IV] doses, 33.825 oral doses and 78... read more

Spontaneous Breathing Trials Should Be Adapted for Each Patient According To The Critical Illness

Unassisted SBTs, namely PSV0PEEP0 and T-piece trial, are the most appropriate to replicate the postextubation effort to breathe. In this multicentre randomized cross-over study, adult intensive care unit patients under... read more

Managing Blood Glucose Control in the ICU

Current evidence supports avoiding iatrogenic factors that aggravate hyperglycemia, such as early-PN and liberal corticosteroid use, and does not support TGC, except with accurate tools and protocols that prevent iatrogenic... read more

Invasive Fungal Infections in Non-neutropenic Patients

Critically ill patients, particularly those with features of immunosuppression, are susceptible to invasive fungal infections (IFI), which pose significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Candida and Aspergillus,... read more

Outcomes and inflammation changes in different types of immunocompromised patients with critically ill COVID-19 admitted to ICU

Critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU exhibit distinct clinical outcomes based on their immunosuppression status, with cancer patients facing the highest mortality rate due to variations in inflammatory responses... read more

Pulmonary Barotrauma in COVID-19 Patients: Experience From a Tertiary University Hospital

Mechanical ventilation (MV) in COVID-19 patients is often complicated with pulmonary barotrauma. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors associated with the development of pulmonary barotrauma... read more