Tag: infection
Heparin 2.0: A New Approach to the Infection Crisis
In April 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for certain medical devices to be used in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This included extracorporeal blood purification... read more
Approach to New Fever or Rigors in the ICU Patient
Failure to recognize neutropenic fever as a separate entity that requires immediate treatment. Routinely ordering urinalysis and sputum cultures (for most patients, this will only lead to false-positive results and unnecessary... read more
Elective Tracheostomy During COVID-19: To Whom, When, How?
We suggest to wait at least 14 days to perform tracheostomy. In patients with SOFA score > 6 and D dimer > 4, tracheostomy should not be performed or should be postponed. Optimized procedures and enhanced personal... read more
What We Should Learn From the First Wave of COVID-19
The pace at which the healthcare system has evolved in 2020 has been staggering. What system improvements we sustainably hold on to may be the most important factor in determining our community's future success. We may... read more
Incidence of Pulmonary Embolism in Non-critically ill COVID-19 Patients
Recent studies suggest that thrombotic complications are a common phenomenon in the novel SARS-CoV-2 infection. The main objective of our study is to assess cumulative incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) in non critically... read more
Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)
Urinalysis should not be checked simply due to cloudy or odorous urine (Class A recommendation from Infectious Diseases Society of America). This probably represents colonization of the Foley bag, not invasive infection. Be... read more
Increase in Rare Brain Inflammation and Stroke Linked to COVID-19
Preliminary clinical data indicate that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with neurological and neuropsychiatric illness. Responding to this, a weekly virtual coronavirus... read more
High-Risk & Critical Care Obstetrics
Co-published with the Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics & Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), this comprehensive book on advanced obstetrics practice focuses on the care of childbearing women with complications during pregnancy... read more
Why, When, and How to Use Lung Ultrasound During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the usefulness of LUS in different clinical scenarios, underlining its advantages in terms of availability, operator- and patient-friendliness, relatively low cost and expertise... read more
High Risk of Thrombosis in Patients With Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Despite anticoagulation, a high number of patients with ARDS secondary to COVID-19 developed life-threatening thrombotic complications. Higher anticoagulation targets than in usual critically ill patients should therefore... read more
Prophylaxis and Treatment of Venous Thromboembolic Disease in COVID-19
Patients with COVID-19 appear to be at elevated risk for thrombotic complications, including venous thromboembolism (VTE).1 In addition to traditional risk factors for VTE, indirect effects of the severity of illness as well... read more
Supporting the Shielded – Results from a National Survey of Shielding Doctors
In spring, NHS staff responded to the looming COVID-19 pandemic with an impressive level of strategic planning. As operating theatres closed and ICU beds were created, anaesthetists and intensivists faced new challenges on... read more
What is the Diagnostic Accuracy of Antibody Tests for the Detection of Infection with the COVID-19 Virus?
The sensitivity of antibody tests is too low in the first week since symptom onset to have a primary role for the diagnosis of COVID-19, but they may still have a role complementing other testing in individuals presenting... read more
The Case for Routine Screening for COVID-19 Before Surgery
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused more than 5 million cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) worldwide and 345,000 deaths as of 25 May 2020. Based on accumulating international experience... read more
Perhaps something isn’t always better than nothing
It is not unreasonable to say the COVID-19 pandemic caught most of us by surprise. We did not know how infectious the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus leading to COVID-19 disease was, nor... read more
What’s the Difference Between COVID-19 Tests?
The COVID-19 pandemic, tests, treatments, and outlook, continue to be front and center in the news, along with other urgent issues taking place across the country. Viral sepsis is the number one complication related to... read more
Exhaled Air Dispersion During Bag-mask Ventilation and Sputum Suctioning
Mask ventilation and coughing during oro-tracheal suctioning produce aerosols that enhance nosocomial transmission of respiratory infections. We examined the extent of exhaled air dispersion from a human-patient-simulator... read more
The Relevance of Thromboinflammation and Endothelial Dysfunction in COVID-19 Patients
The relevance of thromboinflammation and endothelial dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. Microvascular derangement is a key mechanism of multiple organ dysfunction and therapeutic strategies other than heparin, aimed at preserving... read more
The COVID-19 Coronavirus is Changing
When a handful of doctors in northern Italy recently claimed that the virus that causes COVID-19 appears to be losing steam, that it no longer seems to be the same “biological bomb” it was when the pandemic first hit,... read more
Prevention, Detection and Management of VTE in COVID-19 Patients
Several studies have demonstrated coagulation changes in patients with COVID-19, especially in those with severe disease, and this is associated with a worse prognosis. Emerging data, alongside recent clinical experience,... read more
1m Physical Distancing Associated with a Large Reduction in COVID-19 Infection
The findings of this systematic review of 172 studies (44 comparative studies; n=25 697 patients) on COVID-19, SARS, and MERS provide the best available evidence that current policies of at least 1m (3 feet) physical distancing... read more
Identifying Airborne Transmission as the Dominant Route for the Spread of COVID-19
We have elucidated the transmission pathways of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by analyzing the trend and mitigation measures in the three epicenters. Our results show that the airborne transmission route is highly... read more
