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

Cardiopulmonary Monitoring of Shock

Shock has potentially reversible causes of morbidity and mortality if appropriately diagnosed and managed. Older methods of invasive monitoring have significant limitations but are still critical for managing shock in certain... read more

Electrical Impedance Tomography in ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a clinical entity that acutely affects the lung parenchyma, and is characterized by diffuse alveolar damage and increased pulmonary vascular permeability. Currently, computed... read more

Should ICU clinicians follow patients after ICU discharge? No

Post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) describes new or worsening impairments of physical, cognitive or mental health resulting from an episode of critical illness and its treatment and lasting after discharge... read more

Should ICU clinicians follow patients after ICU discharge? Yes

The trajectory of recovery from critical illness is often portrayed as a continuum. At one extremity lies an unstable patient dependent on life-sustaining treatments in the intensive care unit. At the... read more

Dutch Ambitions on eHealth

Dutch government is encouraging the healthcare sector to expand telehealth (eHealth) services. Dutch government wants eHealth to become more widely available and is encouraging the healthcare sector to develop it further.... read more

The Dreaded Acute Compartment Syndrome

When obtaining intracompartmental pressures, place the catheter within 5cm of the fracture level, with the transducer secured at the level of the measured compartment. Make sure to keep the catheter tip outside of the actual... read more

Ultrasound Non-invasive Measurement of Intracranial Pressure in Neurointensive Care

Of the studied ultrasound nICP methods, ONSD is the best estimator of Intracranial Pressure (ICP). The novel combination of ONSD ultrasonography and vTCD of the straight sinus is a promising and easily available technique... read more

Intracranial Pressure Thresholds in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Pro

Teleologically, the mammalian brain has evolved to be the central component of life. It coordinates afferent and efferent neural pathways, integrates neurohormonal responses and, in humans, produces higher cortical effects... read more

Sevoflurane for the treatment of refractory status epilepticus in the critical care unit

A 50-year-old woman with liver failure was admitted to critical care for refractory status epilepticus (RSE). Following tracheal intubation, sevoflurane was administered via the MIRUS system (Pall Medical, Dreieich, Germany).... read more

Measuring and Monitoring Lean Body Mass in Critical Illness

Methods to monitor lean body mass in the ICU are under constant development, improving upon bedside usability and offering new modalities to measure. This provides clinicians with valuable markers with which to identify patients... read more

Emory Cares for ICU Patients Remotely, Turning “Night into Day” from Australia

A partnership involving Emory Healthcare, Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, along with health technology company, Philips, will move night intensive care work in the Emory eICU Center into daylight hours, focusing on the... read more

The A1 Sedation Package: Better Care for Intubated Patients

You are called to the scene of a 56-year-old male found unresponsive in his garage workshop. Upon examining him you find him minimally responsive to painful stimulus, moaning and groaning. His family tells you he has high... read more

Creating a “Manageable Cockpit” for Clinicians

For many clinicians, the work of health care has become undoable. The "cockpit" where physicians and other health professionals work now consists of a cacophony of warning alerts, pop-up messages, mandatory tick boxes, a... read more

In ICUs, a Furry Friend to Comfort Patients

Amid the monitor alarms and life-and-death conversations on the intensive care unit, Tucker, a very mellow Labrador retriever, rolled onto his back at the nurses' station. Delighted staff surrounded the dog, cooing and scratching... read more

The Effects of a Delirium Notification Program on the Clinical Outcomes of the ICU

Increasing the physician's awareness of the patient's mental state by using a notification program could reduce the anxiety of ICU patients even though it may not reduce delirium. The results suggested that the method of... read more

Choosing the Right Hemodynamic Platform

Choosing the Right Hemodynamic Platform: ABG, SV to PAC – Barbara McLean, MN, RN, CCNS-BC, NP-BC Barbara McLean, MN, RN, CCNS-BC, NP-BC Critical Care Clinical Specialist Critical Care Division Grady Health System... read more

Subsyndromal Delirium and Institutionalization Among Patients With Critical Illness

Subsyndromal delirium occurred in most critically ill patients, and its duration was an independent predictor of institutionalization. Routine monitoring of all delirium symptoms may enable detection of full and subsyndromal... read more

Arterial Line Placement

Approximately eight million arterial lines are placed in the United States yearly. The main indication for arterial line placement is the need for close hemodynamic monitoring. The second-to-second blood pressure variations... read more

Update of a Systematic Review of Autoresuscitation After Cardiac Arrest

Although case reports of autoresuscitation are hampered by variability in observation and monitoring techniques, autoresuscitation has now been reported in adults and children, and there appears to be a distinction in timing... read more

Near-Infrared Cerebral Oximetry to Predict Outcome After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

Increased SD of a smoothed cerebral tissue oxygen saturation signal and increased depth and duration of desaturation below the 50% saturation threshold were associated with longer PICU and hospital stays and with longer duration... read more

Process Monitoring in the ICU

Throughout a patient's stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), accurate measurement of patient mobility, as part of routine care, is helpful in understanding the harmful effects of bedrest. However, mobility is typically measured... read more