Alarm Fatigue in ICU Addressed in Two Studies

Alarm fatigue within the intensive care unit (ICU) can negatively impact patient safety and lead to life-threatening events. Researchers from Harlem Hospital and Maimonides Medical Center aimed to identify solutions fight... read more

Oral Antibiotics Preferred for Pediatric Pneumonia

Children with complicated pneumonia should be discharged from the hospital with oral instead of intravenous (IV) antibiotics when possible, according to a new study. The results showed no significant differences in treatment... read more

Preventing the misuse of ICU visiting hours to reduce inequities

Family participation in healthcare serves to improve outcomes across a broad spectrum of conditions. Current guidelines recommend open family presence in the intensive care unit (ICU) while citing evidence of its safety.... read more

Acute Kidney Injury Is Risk Factor for Delirium and Coma

For critically ill adults, acute kidney injury is a risk factor for delirium and coma. Stage 2 acute kidney injury was associated with increased risk of delirium and coma (odds ratios, 1.55 and 2.04, respectively), as was... read more

Should Transfusions Be Matched by Sex?

In the first large study to look at how blood transfusions from previously pregnant women affect recipients' health, researchers discovered men under 50 were 1.5 times more likely to die in the three years following a transfusion... read more

Patient-reported Outcomes Included Into Daily Practice

Measuring relevant outcomes in a timely manner is a priority in a health care system increasingly focused on the delivery of high-value care. Most quality measures focus on care processes or downstream outcomes such as survival;... read more

Understanding Patient Outcomes After ARDS

We identified four post-ARDS outcome subtypes that were predicted by sex, ethnicity, pre-ARDS smoking status and other baseline factors. These subtypes may help develop tailored rehabilitation strategies, including investigation... read more

Detecting Undiagnosed Atrial Fibrillation with Cardiac Monitors

A group of researchers led by James A. Reiffel, M.D., did a study to determine the incidence of previously undiagnosed atrial fibrillation in high-risk patients with the use of insertable cardiac monitors (ICM). The results... read more

Quality initiative reduced the number of chest X-rays conducted in the NICU

A quality improvement initiative implemented at Washington, D.C.-based Children's National Health System successfully reduced the number of chest X-rays conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit, decreasing the risk of... read more

Rapid genetic testing useful for diagnosis of critically ill children

In a cohort of children under the age of 12 months admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) without a clear diagnosis, rapid, targeted genetic testing revealed a diagnosis in about one-third of patients. Genetic diagnoses... read more

Hypothermia No Help When Cardiac Arrest Occurs in Hospital

While therapeutic hypothermia may help improve some outcomes, it doesn't appear to provide benefit when cardiac arrest happens in a hospital setting, according this study.... read more

Post-ICU syndrome signals need for better transition between life-saving care and return to life

Studies show that there are a range of reactions to a stay in the ICU, from the physical wasting that patients experience when they're prone and immobilized to the emotional problems that can come with surviving a near-death... read more

Effect of Systematic ICU Triage on Long-term Mortality Among Critically Ill Elderly Patients

Among critically ill elderly patients in France, a program to promote systematic ICU admission increased ICU use but did not reduce 6-month mortality. Additional research is needed to understand the decision to admit elderly... read more

Anesthesia changes neuronal choreography

Even under deep anesthesia, nerve cells remain highly active. A study conducted by researchers from Charite - Universitätsmedizin Berlin has shown by high-resolution cellular imaging that local neuronal networks remain active... read more

Hospital-Readmission Risk – Isolating Hospital Effects from Patient Effects

When the same patients were admitted with similar diagnoses to hospitals in the best-performing quartile as compared with the worst-performing quartile of hospital readmission performance, there was a significant difference... read more

Metformin and Aspirin Potential Key in Treating Inflammatory Diseases

Ingredient in aspirin combined with popular diabetes drug can turn off faulty protein that plays a key role in inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. ... read more

Nutrition in Surgery and Critical Care

DCRI Perioperative Nutrition focuses on the study of hospital-based treatments to improve preparation and recovery from surgery, major illness, and critical care. We put real science into improving patients' lives with interventions... read more

Antibiotic Prescription Fill Rates Declining

Since 2010, antibiotic prescription rates in the U.S. have been declining among the commercially insured population, falling 9 percent during this period. In this report, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, in partnership... read more

Individualizing Thresholds of Cerebral Perfusion Pressure Using Estimated Limits of Autoregulation

Individualized autoregulation-guided cerebral perfusion pressure management may be a plausible alternative to fixed cerebral perfusion pressure threshold management in severe traumatic brain injury patients. Prospective randomized... read more

Most pediatric ICU physicians don’t use current guidelines to diagnose acute kidney injury

A study by University at Buffalo researchers has shown that physicians in pediatric intensive care units are not using the newest guidelines to diagnose acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill children, a practice that... read more

Hospitals with most heart patients in ICU have worse results: Study

Heart attack or heart failure patients are more likely to get worse or die at hospitals that are more likely to treat them in the ICU, a new study suggests.... read more