Muscle Atrophy in Mechanically-ventilated Critically Ill Children

In children receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, diaphragm and other skeletal muscle atrophy is common and rapid. Increasing age and TBI may increase severity of limb muscle atrophy. Prospective studies are required... 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

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

Aid Tool Does Not Help Care Decisions in Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation

Treatment decisions commonly have to be made in intensive care units (ICUs). These decisions are difficult for surrogate decision makers and often lead to decisional conflict, psychological distress, and treatments misaligned... read more

Patient-important outcomes in randomized controlled trials in critically ill patients

Patient-important outcomes are rarely primary outcomes in RCTs in critically ill patients published in 2013. Among them, mortality accounted for the majority. We promote the use of patient-important outcomes in critical care... read more

Association of Antibiotic Treatment with Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for an Asthma Exacerbation Treated with Systemic Corticosteroids

Antibiotic therapy may be associated with a longer hospital length of stay, higher hospital cost, and similar risk of treatment failure. These results highlight the need to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing among... read more

Score for Predicting Ventilator Weaning Duration in Patients With Tracheostomies

A score derived from ventilator settings may help clinicians predict the timing of ventilator liberation in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. Of 372 patients, 72% were liberated from mechanical ventilation.... read more

Artificial Intelligence in the ICU

ICU doctors are often required to analyse large volumes of complex, heterogeneous data to make life-critical decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI), if used effectively, could reduce this burden by transforming data into... read more

The Benefit of Lung-Protective Ventilation in the ED

Intubation and mechanical ventilation are commonly performed ED interventions and although patients optimally go to an ICU level of care afterwards, many of them remain in the ED for prolonged periods of time. It is widely... read more

ICU Costs Higher for Patients Dying Before Discharge

The high cost of critical care has engendered research into identifying influential factors. However, previous studies have not considered patient vital status at ICU discharge. This is what a new study has found: The largest... read more

Immediate interruption of sedation compared with usual sedation care in critically ill postoperative patients

This trial provides evidence that a strategy of avoiding continuous sedation as early as possible, in the absence of residual neuromuscular blockade and hypothermia, compared with usual sedation care, resulted in improvements... read more

Interventions to Improve the Physical Function of ICU Survivors

ICU admissions are ever increasing across the United States. Following critical illness, physical functioning (PF) may be impaired for up to 5 years. We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials evaluating... read more

Caring for Critically Ill Patients with the ABCDEF Bundle

ABCDEF bundle performance showed significant and clinically meaningful improvements in outcomes including survival, mechanical ventilation use, coma, delirium, restraint-free care, ICU readmissions, and post-ICU discharge... read more

Epidemiology of Mechanically Ventilated Patients Treated in ICU and non-ICU Settings in Japan

A large proportion of Japanese patients on mechanical ventilation (MV) were treated in non-ICU settings. Analysis of administrative data indicated preliminary that hospital mortality rates in these patients were higher in... read more

Association of Driving Pressure With Mortality Among Ventilated Patients With ARDS

Our study confirmed an association between higher driving pressure and higher mortality in mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). These findings suggest a possible range of driving... read more

Delirium in Critical Illness: Haloperidol vs Ziprasidone?

Delirium is defined as an acute disorder of consciousness which can occur in up to 80% of mechanically ventilated ICU patients. This acute cognitive dysfunction is associated with prolonged hospital stay, increased mortality,... read more

Ketamine Continuous Infusion: A Reasonable Alternative to Traditional Sedatives and Analgesics?

Propofol, dexmedetomidine, and opioids are commonly used for patients requiring continuous sedation or analgesia, such as for those receiving mechanical ventilation. Although these medications are generally safe, some may... read more

Transient Systolic Anterior Motion with Junctional Rhythm After Mitral Valve Repair in the ICU

This case report shows that junctional rhythm can cause deterioration of SAM, LVOTO, and MR, and can lead to unstable hemodynamics in a patient with right ventricular failure after MVR. Atrial pacing can resolve SAM, LVOTO,... read more

Improving Hospital Survival and Reducing Brain Dysfunction at Seven California Community Hospitals

The evidence-based ABCDEF bundle was successfully implemented in seven community hospital ICUs using an interprofessional team model to operationalize the Pain, Agitation, and Delirium guidelines. Higher bundle compliance... read more

Can probiotics be an alternative to chlorhexidine for oral care in the mechanically ventilated patient?

In this multicentre study, we could not demonstrate any difference between Lp299 and CHX used in oral care procedures regarding their impact on colonisation with emerging potentially pathogenic enteric bacteria in the oropharynx... read more

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors in patients with respiratory failure and metabolic alkalosis

In patients with respiratory failure and metabolic alkalosis, carbonic anhydrase inhibitor therapy may have favorable effects on blood gas parameters. In mechanically ventilated patients, carbonic anhydrase inhibitor therapy... read more