Procalcitonin and Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio Trends in ICU Sepsis Patients

Understanding the trends of PCT and NLR concerning the infection source can provide deeper insights into their diagnostic and prognostic capabilities. This comparative analysis of PCT, NLR, and SOFA score trends contributes... read more

Half of Sepsis Patients Face Death Within Two Years

Half of all patients with sepsis admitted to an emergency medical department died within two years, according to Danish researchers investigating factors that could predict outcomes for these patients. Dr. Finn E. Nielsen,... read more

Sleep Disturbances Impact on Outcomes in ICU

Complete disappearance of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was frequently observed in ICUs (50% of patients) and may occur at all times during the ICU stay, as well as in patients breathing spontaneously, after admission or... read more

Early Deep-to-light vs. Continuous Light Sedation for ICU Patients with Mechanical Ventilation

Compared to the continuous light sedation, early deep-to-light sedation strategy was associated with improved patient outcomes, and continuous deep sedation was confirmed with poorer patient outcomes. In total, 6700 patients... read more

Assessment of Respiratory Muscles, Lung Parenchyma, and Cardiac Function by Ultrasound for Predicting Weaning Failure in Critically Ill Adults

Parasternal intercostal muscle thickening fraction (PMTF) has good discriminatory power to predict weaning outcomes (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: 0.74 [0.59–0.88]). Pre-SBT PMTF had similar power... read more

VAP Prevention in the ICU

Critically ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit for a life-threatening condition (both medical and surgical) can contract a ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). This is an infection acquired by virtue of... read more

Aspirin Reduces the Need for Mechanical Ventilation by Nearly Half For COVID-19 Patients

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and taking aspirin were nearly half as likely to require mechanical ventilation as those with COVID-19 not taking the drug, according to a study of adult patients. The patients were... read more

Association Between Comorbid COPD and Prognosis of Patients Admitted to ICU for Non-COPD Reasons

Comorbid COPD increased the risk of 28-day mortality among patients admitted to the ICU for non-COPD reasons, especially for those admitted to the cardiac surgery recovery unit. A retrospective cohort study was performed... read more

Influenza-Complicated Thromboembolism in the ICU

Influenza-complicated thromboembolism (TE) among patients with severe influenza infection in the intensive care unit (ICU) is associated with increased risk for longer- duration mechanical ventilation, longer ICU stays, and... read more

Iloprost and Organ Dysfunction in Adults With Septic Shock and Endotheliopathy

In this randomized clinical trial of adults in the ICU with septic shock and severe endotheliopathy, infusion of iloprost, 1 ng/kg/min, for 72 hours did not reduce mean daily SOFA scores compared with placebo. In a clinical... read more

Human albumin solution for on-pump cardiac surgery: benefit or burden?

Deidentified individual participant data collected during the HAS FLAIR-II trial (and the data dictionary) will be shared beginning two years after article publication with no end date. These data will be available to... read more

Optimizing Oxygenation For Tracheal Intubation in Critically Ill Patients

Tracheal intubation (TI) is a common procedure frequently performed in critically ill patients and is an integral part of emergency airway management (EAM). However, it carries inherent risks and can significantly impact... read more

Sex Differences in the Outcome of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

Among patients admitted to ICU for severe COVID-19, males experienced higher severity of illness and more frequent intervention than females. Ultimately, the hazard of death was moderately elevated in males compared to females... read more

Feeding Challenges in the ICU

For critically ill patients, timely nutritional support can aid recovery and reduce mortality risk. But what about a patient in septic shock who is receiving vasopressor therapy, or one who requires prone positioning or extracorporeal... read more

Functional Dependence Following ICU-treated Sepsis

Sepsis survivorship was associated with a broad range of new impairments and led to functional dependence in around one quarter of patients. Targeted measures are needed to mitigate the burden of this Post-Sepsis-Syndrome... read more

Adiposity and Mortality Among ICU Patients with COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 Respiratory Conditions

Obesity is associated with higher mortality among COVID-19 patients, but lower mortality among non-COVID-19 respiratory patients. These associations appear vulnerable to confounding/selection bias in both patient groups,... read more

Impact of the Timing of Invasive Mechanical Ventilation in Sepsis Patients

In patients with sepsis admitted to ICU and received invasive mechanical ventilation (MV), early MV was associated with lower ICU and in-hospital mortality and a shorter ICU stay. Additionally, at ICU discharge, early... read more

Army Scientists’ Technique for Early Sepsis Detection in Burn Patients Submitted to FDA

A new invention developed at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command uses an artificial intelligence machine learning algorithm to identify whether burn patients are at risk of experiencing life-threatening... read more

Early sodium bicarbonate therapy for critically ill patients with septic shock and acute moderate metabolic acidosis

In recent decades, septic shock has continued to be a life-threatening health problem around the world. Meanwhile, metabolic acidosis (MA) is also well known in critically ill patients, and even moderate metabolic acidosis... read more

Long-term Effects of Flexible Visitation in the ICU on Patients’ Mental Health

Flexible ICU visitation, compared to the restrictive visitation, was associated with a significant reduction in the 1-year prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms in family members. A total of 519 family members were... read more

ICU Cardiac Arrest Among Very Elderly Critically Ill Patients

The occurrence of ICU-CA in critically ill patients with advanced age (≥ 90 years) is relatively rare. The observed mortality in the ICU and hospital was exceedingly high. Notably, providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation... read more

Evidence-Based Critical Care: A Case Study Approach

This book provides learners with a unique opportunity by virtue of the format outlined above. Each case presentation has a case vignette, which leads up to an important clinical question, and is followed by additional discussion... read more

Evidence-Based Critical Care: A Case Study Approach