Critical Pediatric Heart Deaths Drop by 24% at Hospitals With Cardiac ICUs

Major complications fall by 12%, time on a ventilator declines by 13% among children in the cardiac ICU at PC4 hospitals As a pediatric cardiology fellow nearly a decade ago, Michael Gaies remembers asking hospital colleagues... read more

In-line Filtration of Intravenous Infusion May Reduce Organ Dysfunction of Adult Critical Patients

In-line filtration with finer 0.2 and 1.2 μm filters may be associated with less organ dysfunction and less inflammation in critically ill adult patients. Comparing fine filter vs control filter cohort, respiratory... read more

Outcomes of VV ECMO When Stratified by Age

The purpose of this study was to evaluate survival to hospital discharge for patients on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) when stratified by age. We performed a retrospective study at single, academic,... read more

Post-extubation Dysphagia

Despite having the tools and techniques for tracheal intubation for > 4000 years, and performing oral intubation with positive pressure mechanical ventilation for > 50 years, only recently has attention focused on... read more

Family Care Rituals in the ICU to Reduce Symptoms of PTSD in Family Members

Offering opportunities such as family care rituals for family members to be involved with providing care for family members in the ICU was associated with reduced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This... read more

Pulmonary Artery Catheters for Adult Patients in ICU

Pulmonary Artery Catheters (PAC) is a diagnostic and haemodynamic monitoring tool but not a therapeutic intervention. Our review concluded that use of a PAC did not alter the mortality, general ICU or hospital LOS, or cost... read more

Practical Trends in Anesthesia and Intensive Care 2018

This book offers an essential guide to managing the most-debated hot topics of practical interest in anesthesia and intensive care. It reviews the state of the art in issues concerning both intensive care medicine and anesthesia,... read more

Practical Trends in Anesthesia and Intensive Care 2018

Triage and Flow Management in Sepsis

Septic patients had a lower priority for ICU admission and longer waiting times for an ICU vacancy than patients with other critical conditions. Overall, this implied a 2.7-fold increased risk of mortality in septic patients. The... read more

Critical Care Doctors Placed Humans in Suspended Animation For The First Time

Critical care doctors have placed humans in suspended animation for the first time, as part of a trial in the US that aims to make it possible to fix traumatic injuries that would otherwise cause death. Samuel Tisherman,... read more

Serum Creatinine in the Critically Ill Patient With Sepsis

A 73-year-old man underwent esophageal resection for cancer. He had a history of hypertension that was treated with an angiotensin receptor blocker. Preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was 98 mL/min/1.73... read more

Long-term Cognitive Impairment After ARDS

Reducing the practical burden of cognitive recovery following critical illness depends crucially on understanding the links between brain injury and lung injury. New deficits in learning and memory, and new development... read more

Low-flow Assessment of Current ECMO/ECCO2R Rotary Blood Pumps and the Potential Effect on Hemocompatibility

The role of blood pumps in contributing to adverse effects at the lower blood flow rates used during ECCO2R is shown here to be significant. Current rotary blood pumps should be used with caution if operated at blood... read more

Anxiety, Depression and PTSD After Critical Illness

Survivors of intensive care are known to be at increased risk of developing longer-term psychopathology issues. We present a large UK multicentre study assessing the anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder... read more

Association of Corticosteroid Treatment With Outcomes in Adult Patients With Sepsis

In this meta-analysis of 37 RCTs (including 9564 patients), corticosteroid treatment was significantly associated with reduced 28-day mortality, ICU mortality, and in-hospital mortality among patients with sepsis. However,... read more

Probiotics Linked to Bloodstream Infections in ICU Patients

People carry a community of microbes in and on our bodies, and they can have a powerful influence on our physiology in many ways. Probiotics, which are live microbes, are intended to improve human health, and they sometimes... read more

Intensivists’ Preferences for Patient Admission to ICU

ICU consultants vary in the importance they give to different factors in deciding who to prioritize for ICU admission. Transparency regarding which factors have been considered in the decision-making process could reduce... read more

Conservative Oxygen Therapy during Mechanical Ventilation in the ICU

In adults undergoing mechanical ventilation in the ICU, the use of conservative oxygen therapy, as compared with usual oxygen therapy, did not significantly affect the number of ventilator-free days. The number of ventilator-free... read more

Conditional Survival With Increasing Duration of ICU Admission

This is an observational study of three intensive care databases two in the United States (Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III and electronic ICU) and one in United Kingdom (Post Intensive Care Risk-Adjusted Alerting... read more

Cardiogenic Shock – The Next Level & Mechanical Circulatory Support

We could center this discussion about the SCAI paper that came out (attached). A nice collaborative expert panel piece outlining a CS pyramid used quickly at the bedside in the ED, ICU, Cath Lab, etc to help us identify these... read more

Using Additional Pressure Control Lines When Connecting a Continuous RRT Device to an ECMO Circuit

The present study suggests that the use of additional tubing can be considered a simple and safe method for pressure control and improvement of filter survival when connecting a continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT)... read more

Effect of Flexible Family Visitation on Delirium Among Patients in the ICU

In this cluster-crossover randomized clinical trial that involved 1,685 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), the incidence of delirium was 18.9% in the flexible family visitation group compared with 20.1% in the standard... read more

Pilot Randomized Trial of a Recovery Navigator Program for Survivors of Critical Illness With Problematic Alcohol Use

A Recovery Navigator intervention was feasible and acceptable for delivering high-fidelity brief interventions to ICU patients. Changes in alcohol-related problems with motivational interviewing and shared decision-making... read more