Restricting volumes of resuscitation fluid in adults with septic shock after initial management

Restricting volumes of resuscitation fluid in adults with septic shock after initial management

A protocol restricting resuscitation fluid successfully reduced volumes of resuscitation fluid compared with a standard care protocol in adult ICU patients with septic shock.... read more

Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!

Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!

An excellent analogy on how doing nothing can be the best option. Penalty kicks in soccer can make fans crumple with anguish or weep with elation. The kicker sends the ball rocketing toward the goal and goalkeepers lunge... read more

Quality Improvement Initiatives in Sepsis in an Emerging Country

Quality Improvement Initiatives in Sepsis in an Emerging Country

This quality improvement initiative in sepsis in an emerging country was associated with a reduction in mortality and with improved compliance with quality indicators. However, this reduction was sustained only in private... read more

Noninvasive Ventilation in Patients With Hematologic Malignancy

Noninvasive Ventilation in Patients With Hematologic Malignancy

Two-thirds of patients with Hematologic Malignancy and respiratory failure failed Noninvasive Ventilation (NIV) and required endotracheal intubation, and had high subsequent mortality. Patients who failed NIV had higher Paco2,... read more

Selepressin – An Effective Substitute for Norepinephrine

Selepressin – An Effective Substitute for Norepinephrine

Selepressin, a novel selective vasopressin V1A agonist, is an effective substitute for norepinephrine in a phase IIa randomized, placebo-controlled trial in septic shock patients. Vasopressin is widely used for vasopressor... read more

Incidence, Prevalence, and Management of MRSA Bacteremia Across Patient Populations

Incidence, Prevalence, and Management of MRSA Bacteremia Across Patient Populations

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is still a major global healthcare problem. Of concern is S. aureus bacteremia, which exhibits high rates of morbidity and mortality and can cause metastatic or... read more

Delays in Antibiotic Administration for Sepsis

Todd Fraser, MD, speaks with Christopher W. Seymour, MD, MSc, about the article, "Delays From First Medical Contact to Antibiotic Administration for Sepsis," published in Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Seymour's article contends... read more

Potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy

Potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy

Acute renal failure and common metabolic disturbances represent potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy. However, a true causal relationship has yet to be demonstrated. Our study confirms... read more

Validation of the Vasoactive-Inotropic Score in Pediatric Sepsis

Validation of the Vasoactive-Inotropic Score in Pediatric Sepsis

Secondary retrospective analysis of a single-center sepsis registry. Vasoactive-Inotropic Score in pediatric sepsis patients is independently associated with important clinically relevant outcomes including ICU length of... read more

SOFA Effective Pediatric Version

SOFA Effective Pediatric Version

An age-adjusted version of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score for sepsis has been found to be at least as good, if not better than, other pediatric organ dysfunction scores at predicting in-hospital mortality.... read more

Can Electronic Alerts Help Identify Sepsis in Sick Children?

Can Electronic Alerts Help Identify Sepsis in Sick Children?

A two-step electronic alert system successfully reduced missed sepsis diagnoses in children by 76 percent. The new pediatric protocol, which incorporates the use of vital signs, risk factors, and a clinician's judgment,... read more

A Brief Review of Troponin Testing for Clinicians

A Brief Review of Troponin Testing for Clinicians

Current American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines state that troponin is the preferred biomarker for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (MI). Troponin T (TnT) and I molecules have amino... read more

Hyperglycaemia in Critically Ill Patients

Hyperglycaemia in Critically Ill Patients

There is an ongoing debate regarding the efficacy of glycaemic control in critically ill patients. Here we briefly highlight the key function of elevated glucose in critically ill patients, namely, to enable elevation of... read more

Muscle Oxygenation as Indicator of Shock Severity

Muscle Oxygenation as Indicator of Shock Severity

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the potential of a new noninvasive optical measurement of muscle oxygenation (MOx) to identify shock severity in patients with suspected sepsis. We demonstrate that noninvasive... read more

Readmissions for Recurrent Sepsis: New or Relapsed Infection?

Readmissions for Recurrent Sepsis: New or Relapsed Infection?

Sepsis hospitalizations are frequently followed by hospital readmissions, often for recurrent sepsis. However, it is unclear how often sepsis readmissions are for relapsed/recrudescent vs. new infections. The aim of this... read more

An Orthopedic Surgeon Explains: Diastolic Heart Failure

An Orthopedic Surgeon Explains: Diastolic Heart Failure

It seems that every now and then we have to deal with something other than the bones. As you can imagine, this is sub-optimal at best. Because bones. Anyhow, I’ve been asked to discuss one of those issues with you, and... read more

Effects of Polymyxin B Hemoperfusion on Mortality in Patients With Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock

Effects of Polymyxin B Hemoperfusion on Mortality in Patients With Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock

Several studies have reported a survival benefit for polymyxin B hemoperfusion treatment in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. However, recently, a propensity-matched analysis and a randomized controlled trial... read more