Associations of ICU Capacity Strain with Disposition and Outcomes of Patients with Sepsis Presenting to the Emergency Department

The odds that patients in the ED with sepsis who do not require life support therapies will be admitted to the ICU are reduced when those ICUs experience high occupancy, but not high levels of other previously explored measures... read more

Unplanned Early Hospital Readmission Among Critical Care Survivors

Although some readmissions are medically unavoidable, for many ICU survivors complex health and psychosocial issues contribute concurrently to early rehospitalisation. Care pathways that anticipate and institute anticipatory... read more

Predictors of Return to Work in Survivors of Critical Illness

Major trauma, lower GCS and increased hospital length of stay predicted inability to return to work due to health at six-months post-ICU admission. Compared to employed patients, those who had not returned to work reported... read more

Co-Occurrence of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Problems Among 406 Survivors of Critical Illness

In this multicenter cohort study, one or more post-intensive care syndrome problems were present in the majority of survivors, but co-occurring problems were present in only one out of four. Education was protective from... read more

Effectively Expressing Empathy to Improve ICU Care

In nearly every intensive care unit (ICU) at every pediatric hospital across the country, physicians hold numerous care conferences with patients' family members daily. Due to the challenging nature of many these conversations--covering... read more

Initial Inflammatory Profile in Community-acquired Pneumonia Depends on Time since Onset of Symptoms

Time since symptom onset modifies the systemic inflammatory profile at Community-acquired Pneumonia (CAP) diagnosis. This information has relevant clinical implications for management, and it should be taken into account... read more

Hemodynamic Consequences of Severe Lactic Acidosis in Shock States

Deleterious hemodynamic effects of severe lactic acidosis are largely suggested by experimental data, although not fully confirmed by human studies. Pending the effectiveness of an etiological treatment, there is no efficient... read more

Music Helps Prevent Delirium in Elderly Critical Care Patients

A randomized controlled trial demonstrates that music intervention to prevent delirium among older patients is one of few strategies that provide support in a critical care setting. This study builds on non-pharmacologic... read more

Can Better Teamwork in the ICU Save Lives?

Effective teamwork is the goal of any workplace. But few settings offer higher stakes than the fast-paced, life-or-death environment of a hospital intensive care unit (ICU). Team collaboration in ICUs is an area ripe for... read more

Travel Times Affect Neurocritical Care Unit Nurse Staffing Levels

For specialist nurses on neurocritical care units, accompanying patients for imaging scans and other procedures has a major impact on nurse staffing ratios, reports a study in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. Over 30... read more

Functional Recovery in Critically Ill Children, the “WeeCover” Multicenter Study

This study provides new information regarding functional outcomes and the factors that influence meaningful aspects of functioning in critically ill children. Identifying patients at greatest risk and modifiable targets for... read more

Diagnostic Accuracy of Chest Radiograph, and When Concomitantly Studied Lung Ultrasound, in Critically Ill Patients With Respiratory Symptoms

This meta-analysis demonstrates that chest radiograph has a low sensitivity and reasonable specificity compared with CT for detecting lung pathology in critically ill patients. The studies also investigating lung ultrasound,... read more

Duration of hypotension before initiation of effective antimicrobial therapy is the critical determinant of survival in human septic shock

Effective antimicrobial administration within the first hour of documented hypotension was associated with increased survival to hospital discharge in adult patients with septic shock. Despite a progressive increase in mortality... read more

Delirium, Frailty, and Mortality: Interactions in a Prospective Study of Hospitalized Older People

Although delirium and frailty contribute to mortality, the overall impact of delirium on admission appears to be greater at lower levels of frailty. In contrast to the hypothesis that there is a bimodal distribution for mortality,... read more

Association of Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement for Venous Thromboembolic Disease and a Contraindication to Anticoagulation With 30-Day Mortality

After adjustment for immortal time bias, Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter placement was associated with increased 30-day mortality in patients with venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) and a contraindication to anticoagulation.... read more

Timing of Infectious Disease Clinical Rotation Is Associated With Infectious Disease Fellowship Application

During a 7-year period, those interns randomly assigned to rotate on ID in the first 6 months of their intern year were more likely to become future ID applicants. This supports prior self-reported survey data that early... read more

Out-of-hours Discharge from ICU, In-hospital Mortality and ICU Readmission Rates

Out-of-hours discharge from an ICU is strongly associated with both in-hospital death and ICU readmission. These effects persisted across all definitions of “out of hours” and across healthcare systems in different geographical... read more

Ultrasound Non-invasive Measurement of Intracranial Pressure in Neurointensive Care

Of the studied ultrasound nICP methods, ONSD is the best estimator of Intracranial Pressure (ICP). The novel combination of ONSD ultrasonography and vTCD of the straight sinus is a promising and easily available technique... read more

Intravenous Fish Oil (Omegaven) Approved by FDA

Intravenous Fish Oil (Omegaven) approved by FDA for use in total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in pediatric patients in the United States. Omegaven 10% Emulsion is a fish oil emulsion administered intravenously in patients who... read more

The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on the Risk of ARDS

Chronic high alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk of ARDS. This finding suggests that patients admitted to hospital should be screened for chronic alcohol use. Seventeen observational studies (177,674 people)... read more

Effect of In-Bed Leg Cycling and Electrical Stimulation of the Quadriceps on Global Muscle Strength in Critically Ill Adults

In this single-center randomized clinical trial involving patients admitted to the ICU, adding early in-bed leg cycling exercises and electrical stimulation of the quadriceps muscles to a standardized early rehabilitation... read more

How You Can Protect Your Parent From Delirium

Unlike dementia, which is constant and gets progressively worse, delirium tends to come and go, fluctuating even in the course of a day. The symptoms are transitory, yet for people who develop delirium, it can be the start... read more