Tag: pneumonia
Oxalate Nephropathy Following Vitamin C Intake within ICU
Compelling evidence obtained from in-vitro and animal studies suggest that vitamin C, a circulating antioxidant, may be a valuable adjunctive therapy in critically-ill patients. Data from humans are more conflicting.... read more
What should we stop doing in the ICU?
Intensive care is an interesting specialty. From all the early excitement in the 1970s, passing through two decades of intensive physiological use at the bedside, intensive care landed on the rough ground of modern randomized... read more
Does Head of Bed Elevation During Intubation Improve Patient Oriented Outcomes?
To date the study that has shown the biggest benefit to HOB elevation is the 2016 study performed by Khandelwal and colleagues in a teaching hospital system in Seattle, WA. 528 patients managed by anesthesiologists... read more
Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis with Proton Pump Inhibitors or Histamin-2 Receptor Antagonists in Adult Intensive Care Patients
In this updated systematic review, we were able to refute a relative change of 20% of mortality. The occurrence of GI bleeding was reduced, but we lack firm evidence for a reduction in clinically important GI bleeding. The... read more
Environment key battle ground in fight to tackle antibiotic resistance
The environment could be as important a battle ground as the clinic in the global fight against the spread of antibiotic resistance, new research has shown. A study conducted at the University of Exeter Medical School concluded... read more
Optimizing Respiratory Management in Resource-limited Settings
This review focuses on the emerging body of literature regarding the management of acute respiratory failure (ARF) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim is to abstract management principles that are of relevance... read more
Regeneration of Severely Damaged Lungs Using an Interventional Cross-circulation Platform
The number of available donor organs limits lung transplantation, the only lifesaving therapy for the increasing population of patients with end-stage lung disease. A prevalent etiology of injury that renders lungs unacceptable... read more
Closed ICU Model Linked to 100% Reduction in Several HAIs
A closed intensive care unit model, in which a patient is evaluated and admitted under an intensivist and patient care orders are written by ICU staff, can help reduce rates of several healthcare-associated infections (HAI),... read more
Antibiotic Therapy for Severe CAP in the ICU
Researchers have assessed the impact antibiotic therapy on short (hospital) and long-term (6 months) outcomes of ICU patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains one of the... read more
Why Most Diagnostic Procedures Aren’t Beneficial
We often assume that diagnostic procedures will help patients. A lot of training goes into learning how to do these procedures. Procedures are dramatic. We like performing them. Patients are impressed, perceiving that we... read more
Does De-escalation of Anti-MRSA Therapy for Culture-negative Pneumonia Affect Patient Outcomes?
Nosocomial pneumonia is a common hospital-acquired infection and has a high mortality rate in the critically ill. Because drug-resistant bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus... read more
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Are Elevated in Patients with Pneumonia-related ARDS
Bronchoalveolar neutrophil extracellular trap concentration was not significantly associated with mechanical ventilation duration in pneumonia-related ARDS. The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most severe... read more
Corticosteroids for Treating Pneumonia
Pneumonia remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States.1 There is both theoretical and laboratory evidence that corticosteroids may have beneficial effects in pneumonia through local pulmonary and... read more
Dysphagia in the ICU: Epidemiology, Mechanisms, and Clinical Management
In the light of the fact that the clinical consequences of ICU-acquired dysphagia (e.g., aspiration-induced pneumonitis/pneumonia) can often be observed on ICUs, more data on underlying mechanisms and/or risk factors seems... read more
Effect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on 30-Day Mortality for Patients With E coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infection and Ceftriaxone Resistance
Among patients with E coli or K pneumoniae bloodstream infection and ceftriaxone resistance, definitive treatment with piperacillin-tazobactam compared with meropenem did not result in a noninferior 30-day mortality. These... read more
Flu Season May Not Have Peaked, and there’s Another Wave of Severe Infections Underway
Flu activity remains high across the nation, and there's a second wave of severe infections striking some states. There were as many as 26.3 million flu illnesses, 12.4 million medical visits and 347,000 flu hospitalizations... read more
Appropriate Treatment for Bloodstream Infections Due to Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae and Escherichia Coli
Tigecycline monotherapy was a choice if the strains exhibited MIC ≤0.5 mg/L, and colistin monotherapy was not suitable. Our findings can initiate additional clinical studies regarding the efficacy of tigecycline in carbapenem-resistant... read more