Tag: ICU
ICU May Be Overused for Some COPD, Acute MI, HF Patients
For patients with COPD, heart failure and myocardial infarction, who are not critically ill, a stay in the ICU may be no more beneficial than staying on a ward, according to an analysis just published in the Annals of the... read more
The effects of performance status one week before hospital admission on the outcomes of critically ill patients
PS impairment was associated with worse outcomes independently of other markers of chronic health status, particularly for patients in the medium range of severity of illness. PS impairment was moderate in 17.3 % and severe... read more
Hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis: Can we defuse the bomb?
Hypertriglyceridemia causes ~9% of pancreatitis, the third most common cause after alcohol and gallstones. It is a risk factor for severe pancreatitis, making it more frequent among ICU patients with pancreatitis. I see... read more
Ultrasound-guided Pleural Effusion Drainage With a Small Catheter Using the Single-step Trocar or Modified Seldinger Technique
Ultrasound-guided pleural effusion drainage by catheter insertion is a safe and effective procedure. The success rate is low when the effusion is loculated and septated. Both the trocar and the modified Seldinger techniques... read more
One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable
Johns Hopkins Study Shows One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable. For some hospital patients, going on a ventilator is often the difference between life and death. About 800,000 hospital patients... read more
Antifungal Treatment in the ICU
Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Almost 80% of IFIs are due to Candida spp., which are the third most common isolated microorganisms in the intensive... read more
Critical Care Pharmacotherapeutics
Critical Care Pharmacotherapeutics presents information on the fundamentals of critical care practice from a pharmacist's point of view. This accessible text is an excellent introduction to critical care pharmacy. Pharmacy... read more
Enough is Enough (O2 Saturation of 94-96%)
The liberal use of supplemental oxygen therapy in acutely ill adults has a long history in the hospital, but high-quality therapy supporting its practice is unclear. Recently, the role of oxygen therapy in non-hypoxic patients... read more
Penn Medicine Shortens ICU Stays with Real-time Data
Leveraging real-time data streams from its EHR platform, Penn Medicine has created a dashboard and alerting system to speed the process of getting ICU patients breathing on their own. Many patients in hospital intensive care... read more
Hoopla Aside, hs-cTnI is Not Catching Missed Mis
We have been searching for a tool to identify myocardial infarction patients who are truly safe for discharge ever since Pope, et al., found that we were discharging two percent of patients with MIs from the emergency department.... read more
The Artificial Intelligence Clinician Learns Optimal Treatment Strategies for Sepsis in Intensive Care
Sepsis is the third leading cause of death worldwide and the main cause of mortality in hospitals but the best treatment strategy remains uncertain. In particular, evidence suggests that current practices in the administration... read more
Acute Right Heart Failure
The right ventricle is often overlooked in critical care in favour of the attention to the left side of the heart. But acute right heart failure is important and today on the podcast we discuss its implications for critical... read more
Optimizing Patient and Family Education Resources for the ICU
Offering stronger patient and family education tools in the ICU will ease patient and caregiver fears and make them more comfortable with the care setting. An integrated, centralized, and digital platform is best suited for... read more
The Psychological Impact of Intensive Care
A period in intensive care is known to negatively affect patients' long term physical, cognitive and psychiatric health, in what's known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). Researchers from the University of Oxford sought... read more
