Long-Term Mortality and Hospital Resource Use in ICU Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease

ICU patients with alcohol-related liver disease have higher 5-year mortality and emergency readmission rates than ICU patients with other severe comorbidities and matched general ICU patients. These data can contribute to... read more

Long-Term Mortality and Hospital Resource Use in ICU Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease

Effect of Intravenous Acetaminophen vs Placebo Combined With Propofol or Dexmedetomidine on Postoperative Delirium Among Older Patients Following Cardiac Surgery

Among older patients undergoing cardiac surgery, postoperative scheduled IV acetaminophen, combined with IV propofol or dexmedetomidine, reduced in-hospital delirium vs placebo. Additional research, including comparison of... read more

Effect of Intravenous Acetaminophen vs Placebo Combined With Propofol or Dexmedetomidine on Postoperative Delirium Among Older Patients Following Cardiac Surgery

Implementing Early Mobilization in the ICU

The use of a quality improvement appraisal tool can help identify high quality projects when planning a similar mobility program. Even though projects were conducted in a variety of intensive care unit settings, and implementation... read more

Implementing Early Mobilization in the ICU

Catheter Directed Thrombolysis for Intermediate Risk Pulmonary Embolism

Intermediate risk pulmonary embolism is common and carries a risk of progression to hemodynamic collapse and death. Catheter directed thrombolysis is an increasingly utilized treatment option, based largely on the assumptions... read more

Catheter Directed Thrombolysis for Intermediate Risk Pulmonary Embolism

The Clinical Impacts and Risk Factors for Non-central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection in 5046 ICU Patients

Most of the previous studies focused on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), while non-central line-associated bloodstream infection (N-CLABSI) was poorly studied. This study was performed to investigate... read more

The Clinical Impacts and Risk Factors for Non-central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection in 5046 ICU Patients

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

Muscle Atrophy in Mechanically-ventilated Critically Ill Children

Antibiotic timing in Severe Sepsis

Severe sepsis is a time dependent condition and this study builds on previous literature which supports that early identification and treatment of sepsis with antibiotics decreases mortality. Retrospective analysis of a large... read more

Antibiotic timing in Severe Sepsis

ICU Utilization for Patients With Acute Exacerbation of COPD Receiving Noninvasive Ventilation

There is wide variability in the rate of ICU utilization for noninvasive ventilation across hospitals. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients receiving noninvasive ventilation had similar in-hospital mortality... read more

ICU Utilization for Patients With Acute Exacerbation of COPD Receiving Noninvasive Ventilation

Did This Health Care Policy Do Harm?

A well-intentioned program created by the Affordable Care Act may have led to patient deaths. No patient leaves the hospital hoping to return soon. But a decade ago, one in five Medicare patients who were hospitalized for... read more

Did This Health Care Policy Do Harm?

Number Needed to Treat

Effectively communicating clinical trial results to patients and clinicians is a requirement for appropriate application in clinical practice. In a recent issue of JAMA, Zhao et al1 reported the results from a randomized... read more

Number Needed to Treat

UV Light Reduces Hospital-acquired Infections

A new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) shows that ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology, called PurpleSun, eliminates up to 97.7 percent of pathogens in the operating room (OR). Using... read more

UV Light Reduces Hospital-acquired Infections

Prehospital Intravenous Fentanyl Administered by Ambulance Personnel

Prehospital acute pain is a frequent symptom that is often inadequately managed. The concerns of opioid induced side effects are well-founded. To ensure patient safety, ambulance personnel are therefore provided with treatment... read more

Prehospital Intravenous Fentanyl Administered by Ambulance Personnel

Catheter-Directed Therapy for PE Built on Fallacy

Tissue plasminogen activator has a notoriously checkered past within emergency medicine, and its controversial use continues with the advent of targeted therapy for pulmonary embolism. Catheter-directed administration of... read more

Catheter-Directed Therapy for PE Built on Fallacy

Study Shows How Bacteria Spread from Sink Drainpipes to Patients

Many recent reports have found multidrug resistant bacteria living in hospital sink drainpipes, putting them in close proximity to vulnerable patients. But how the bacteria find their way out of the drains, and into patients... read more

Study Shows How Bacteria Spread from Sink Drainpipes to Patients

ICU May Be Overused for Some COPD, Acute MI, HF Patients

For patients with COPD, heart failure and myocardial infarction, who are not critically ill, a stay in the ICU may be no more beneficial than staying on a ward, according to an analysis just published in the Annals of the... read more

ICU May Be Overused for Some COPD, Acute MI, HF Patients

The effects of performance status one week before hospital admission on the outcomes of critically ill patients

PS impairment was associated with worse outcomes independently of other markers of chronic health status, particularly for patients in the medium range of severity of illness. PS impairment was moderate in 17.3 % and severe... read more

The effects of performance status one week before hospital admission on the outcomes of critically ill patients

Ultrasound-guided Pleural Effusion Drainage With a Small Catheter Using the Single-step Trocar or Modified Seldinger Technique

Ultrasound-guided pleural effusion drainage by catheter insertion is a safe and effective procedure. The success rate is low when the effusion is loculated and septated. Both the trocar and the modified Seldinger techniques... read more

Ultrasound-guided Pleural Effusion Drainage With a Small Catheter Using the Single-step Trocar or Modified Seldinger Technique

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

One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable