Ramelteon for Prevention of Postoperative Delirium

Ramelteon 8 mg did not prevent postoperative delirium in patients admitted for elective cardiac surgery. Incident delirium was measured twice daily using the Confusion Assessment Method-ICU. The safety outcome was... read more

Traditional vs. Alternative Metrics to Measure the Impact on Critical Care Medicine

In this analysis of major pulmonary and critical care journals the correlation between traditional publishing metrics and Altmetric Attention Scores (AAS) was fair, with a strong positive correlation between citations and... read more

Comparison of Echocardiographic Indices of RVEF in Critically Ill Patients

Though echocardiographic evaluation assesses the right ventricular systolic function, which of the existing parameters best reflects the right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) in the critically ill patients is still uncertain.... read more

Clinical Assessment of Critically Ill Patients by Whole-body Ultrasonography

Critical care ultrasonography (CCUS) is increasingly advocated and used, and is defined as point-of-care image acquisition, interpretation and clinical application, all performed by the critical care clinician, and directed... read more

Impact of Critical Illness on Resource Utilization

An ICU admission is associated with increased resource utilization including hospital readmissions, with many due to an ambulatory care sensitive condition. Lower socioeconomic status and higher severity of illness are associated... read more

Critically Ill Patients Show a Differential Contractile Response to Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation

This retrospective sub-analysis aimed to outline the characteristics of, as well as predictors for, a contractile response to Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES), and also potential clinical benefits resulting from... read more

Vitamin D Deficiency in ICU Patients

Vitamin D research has experienced a true hype in all fields of medicine in the last decades. In critical illness, this increased interest has only started 10 years ago. The high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in... read more

Incidence of Hypoglycemia in Following Insulin‐based Acute Treatment of Hyperkalemia

Iatrogenic hypoglycemia, as a result of treatment for hyperkalemia, is a common occurrence. Hyperkalemia occurs disproportionately in patients with acute kidney injury or end‐stage renal disease, and these patients are... read more

Key Enablers and Barriers for Improving ICU Outcomes

Several enablers and barriers to implementing ICU follow-up clinics and peer support groups should be taken into account and leveraged to improve ICU recovery. Among the most important enablers are motivated clinician leaders... read more

Sedation is Necessary to Minimize Patients’ Discomfort During Mechanical Ventilation

More than half of critical care nurses believe sedation is needed to minimize discomfort and distress among patients receiving mechanical ventilation, according to survey results published recently in the American Journal... read more

Platelet Function During ECMO in Adult Patients

Employing impedance aggregometry and flow cytometry, we found both impaired platelet aggregation and decreased platelet activation on day 1 of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support compared with healthy controls.... read more

Implementation of a Standardized Transfusion Protocol for Cardiac Patients Treated With Venoarterial ECMO Is Associated With Decreased Blood Component Utilization and May Improve Clinical Outcome

The data indicate that implementation of a standardized transfusion protocol, using more restrictive transfusion indications in cardiac ECMO patients, was associated with reduced blood product utilization, decreased complications,... read more

Mechanical Ventilation Management during ECMO for ARDS

Ultra-protective lung ventilation on ECMO was largely adopted across medium to high case-volume ECMO centers. In contrast with previous observations, mechanical ventilation settings during ECMO did not impact patients' prognosis... read more

Determinants of Health-Related Quality of Life After ICU

Preexisting comorbidity counts, but not severity of ICU illness, are strongly associated with health-related quality of life and physical symptoms in the year following critical illness. We prospectively collected data... read more

The Complex Kinetics of Blood Endocan During the Time Course of Sepsis and ARDS

This study highlights the kinetics of endocan in severe sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), thus helping to understand the apparently conflicting results observed in the literature. However, the interpretability... read more

Antipsychotics Not Helpful for Delirium in ICU

Delirium is a confused mental state that includes changes in awareness, thinking, judgment, sleeping patterns, and behavior. It can affect patients of any age but is more common among older adults who experience major illness... read more

Implementation Challenges in the ICU: The Why, Who and How of Daily Interruption of Sedation

Despite apparent consensus, lack of shared understanding of the rationale for an intervention may lead to divergent practice patterns and failure to implement standardized, evidence-based practice. There was wide consensus... read more

Early Mobilization Reduces Duration of Mechanical Ventilation and Intensive Care Unit Stay in Patients With ARF

The introduction of early mobilization for patients with mechanical ventilation (MV) in the ICU shortened MV durations and ICU stays. A multidisciplinary team that includes the patient's family can work together to improve... read more

Association Between Mean Arterial Pressure and AKI and a Composite of Myocardial Injury and Mortality in Postoperative Critically Ill Patients

Hypotension thresholds that provoke renal injury, myocardial injury, and mortality in critical care patients remain unknown. We primarily sought to determine the relationship between hypotension and a composite of myocardial... read more

Effect of a Nurse-Led Preventive Psychological Intervention on Symptoms of PTSD Among Critically Ill Patients

Among critically ill patients in the ICU, a nurse-led preventive, complex psychological intervention did not significantly reduce patient-reported Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom severity at 6 months. These findings... read more

Parenteral Anticoagulation Not Associated with Reduced Risk of Ischemic Stroke Among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation During Sepsis

Among patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) during sepsis, parenteral anticoagulation was not associated with reduced risk of ischemic stroke and was associated with higher bleeding rates. Of 113,511 patients hospitalized... read more

Beyond Ventilator-induced Diaphragm Dysfunction

Respiratory muscles are essential to ensure the vital function of breathing. The diaphragm is a unique respiratory muscle, because it contracts throughout the individual's life span without resting, not even during sleep.... read more