Meet the trillions of viruses that make up your virome

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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?

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?

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

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?

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

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