Tag: study
An Incurable Disease Is On The Rise In California, And Scientists Say Climate Change Could Cause It To Spread To Much Of The Western US
A fungus that thrives in dry soil and warm weather has caused a record number of infections in California. Experts fear climate change will cause it to spread across the western US. Valley fever, a fungal disease that infects... read more
Stronger evidence for vitamin C use in sepsis treatment
A new meta-analysis reveals a positive correlation between incorporating vitamin C in the treatment of sepsis and favorable patient outcomes. Results of the meta-analysis showed a marked reduction in mortality and duration... read more
Clinical Trial Testing Vitamin and Steroid Combination in Sepsis Patients Underway at Emory
A new clinical trial at Emory University and 45 other sites around the U.S. will test a combination of vitamins and steroids in patients diagnosed with sepsis. Sepsis is caused by the body's overwhelming and life-threatening... read more
Comparing Percutaneous to Open Access for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Pediatric Respiratory Failure
The proportion of pediatric patients undergoing percutaneous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation is increasing. Mechanical and physiologic complications occur with both methods of cannulation, but percutaneous... read more
Communicating with Conscious and Mechanically Ventilated Critically Ill Patients
Ventilator-dependent patients in the ICU often experience difficulties with one of the most basic human functions, namely communication, due to intubation. Although various assistive communication tools exist, these are infrequently... read more
Comparison between procalcitonin and C-reactive protein to predict blood culture results in ICU patients
Biomarkers represent an essential tool for identification of patients developing infection and to determine their clinical severity. Procalcitonin (PCT) levels appeared to be correlated with the development of severe bacterial... read more
Meet the trillions of viruses that make up your virome
If you think you don’t have viruses, think again. It may be hard to fathom, but the human body is occupied by large collections of microorganisms, commonly referred to as our microbiome, that have evolved with us since... read more
Alcohol Withdrawal: One Order to Sedate Them All
This is a retrospective cohort study describing 86 admissions to the ICU for alcohol withdrawal between 2011-2015. 86% were treated with benzodiazepines before ICU admission, usually on the general ward. The average dose... read more
Triiodothyronine Replacement in Critically Ill Adults with Non-thyroidal Illness Syndrome
This study suggests that with triiodothyronine (T3) supplementation there was evidence of serum free T3 normalization without evidence of associated harms. A definitive trial is needed to evaluate clinical effectiveness.... read more
Early PREdiction of Sepsis Using Leukocyte Surface Biomarkers
From a large panel of leukocyte biomarkers, immunosuppression biomarkers were associated with subsequent sepsis in ED patients with suspected acute infection. Between January 2014 and February 2016, we recruited 272, 59 and... read more
Organ and Tissue Donation Education for Critical Care Residents
Qualitative data corroborated that residents need more exposure to clinical cases, especially regarding DCD donors. A standardized education curriculum would be beneficial for all residents within the ICU. Developing a better... read more
Abnormal Environmental Light Exposure in the ICU Environment
Patients' environmental light exposure in the intensive care unit is consistently low and follows a diurnal pattern. No effect of nighttime light exposure was observed on melatonin secretion. Inadequate daytime light exposure... read more
High Generic Drug Prices and Market Competition: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Market competition levels were associated with a change in generic drug prices. Such measurements may be helpful in identifying older prescription drugs at higher risk for price change in the future. From 1.08 billion prescription... read more
Positive End-expiratory Pressure and Mechanical Power
Less than 7 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure reduced atelectrauma encountered at zero end-expiratory pressure. Above a defined power threshold, sustained positive end-expiratory pressure contributed to potentially... read more
The Gender Gap in Critical Care Medicine: How Are We Doing Globally?
Female enrollment into medical schools is increasing worldwide, but gender disparities persist in certain specialties, especially in critical care medicine. Published data on the scale of this issue is scarce and a recent... read more
Magnesium Sulfate for Rapid Atrial Fibrillation?
Currently, several medications are recommended for the management of atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response in the emergency department including calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and digoxin (the optimal... read more
How Do Resuscitation Teams at Top-Performing Hospitals for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Succeed?
Resuscitation teams at hospitals with high IHCA survival differ from non–top-performing hospitals. Our findings suggest core elements of successful resuscitation teams that are associated with better outcomes and form the... 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
Do phenylephrine and epinephrine require central access?
Until recently I believed that prolonged vasopressor administration requires a central line, to avoid extravasation. I lumped together all vasopressors, treating them all as equal. I used the occurrence of an extravasation... read more
Haloperidol Serum Concentrations in Critically Ill Patients Included in the REDUCE Study
ICU delirium occurs frequently and is associated with unfavorable outcome. A recent delirium prevention study, the REDUCE study, has assessed the efficacy of prophylactic use of haloperidol. In this subset... read more
pH-guided Fluid Resuscitation and BICAR-ICU
The use of bicarbonate is a source of eternal disagreement. Bicarbonate has a shameful history of being abused in situations where it's unhelpful (e.g. cardiac arrest). This has impugned its reputation, giving it an aura... read more
Viral Sepsis in Children
Sepsis in children is typically presumed to be bacterial in origin until proven otherwise, but frequently bacterial cultures ultimately return negative. Although the incidence of viral-induced sepsis is not precisely known,... read more
