Sodium Bicarbonate Therapy for Patients with Severe Metabolic Acidaemia in the ICU

In patients with severe metabolic acidaemia, sodium bicarbonate had no effect on the primary composite outcome. However, sodium bicarbonate decreased the primary composite outcome and day 28 mortality in the a-priori defined... read more

Intracranial Pressure Thresholds in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Pro

Teleologically, the mammalian brain has evolved to be the central component of life. It coordinates afferent and efferent neural pathways, integrates neurohormonal responses and, in humans, produces higher cortical effects... read more

Timing of Renal Support and Outcome of Septic Shock and ARDS

Early RRT initiation strategy was not associated with any improvement of 60-day mortality in patients with severe acute kidney injury and septic shock or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Unnecessary and potentially... read more

Health-related Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients With and Without Sepsis

Critically ill patients with sepsis have higher healthcare resource use and costs but similar survival and HRQoL compared to matched patients without sepsis. We conducted a primary propensity score matched analysis of patients... read more

The Intensive Care Medicine Research Agenda in Nutrition and Metabolism

Priorities for clinical research in the field of nutritional management of critically ill patients were suggested, with the prospect that different nutritional interventions targeted to the appropriate patient population... read more

Evaluation of a strategy for enrolling the families of critically ill patients in research using limited human resources

Family members were recruited for more than one third of eligible patients, and >90% of approached consented to participate. There are important demographic differences between patients with vs without an enrolled family... read more

Immunotherapy for Sepsis: A Good Idea or Another Dead End?

THE treatment of sepsis remains an intractable problem in critical care. It has been called the “graveyard”1 for pharmaceutical companies in recognition of dozens of negative clinical trials; this reflects multiple distinct... read more

What’s New in Severe Pulmonary Embolism?

Severe pulmonary embolism (PE) remains a major cause of mortality. For intensivists managing the most "severe" forms of PE, we highlight the main recent advances in the care of such patients including risk stratification,... read more

Nine Reasons to Quit Using Normal Saline for Resuscitation

Saline vs. balanced solutions has been a topic of ongoing debate. Two fresh studies will illuminate this: the SMART and SALT-ED trials. This post summarizes current knowledge, beginning with physiology and working our way... read more

Intravenous Iron, Not Oral, Improves Functional Capacity in HF Patients

The oral iron supplement failed to be absorbed, while the successful IV formulation is not without significant logistical and cost issues. In one study testing a convenient and easy-to-use oral iron supplement, investigators... read more

Distinguishing Pneumonia From Pneumonitis to Safely Discontinue Antibiotics

Consequences of pulmonary aspiration can be biphasic with dissimilar sequelae. An early phase, coined pneumonitis, involves an inflammatory reaction to gastrointestinal contents with a pH typically less than 2.4 resulting... read more

Lighter Emergency Breathing Tubes Associated with Higher Survival After OHCA

In the LT group, 18.3% of patients survived 72 hours in the hospital, compared to 15.4% in the intubation group. From the LT group, 10.8% survived to hospital discharge, and only 8.1% in the intubation group. The proportion... read more

Management and Outcomes of ARDS Patients With and Without Comorbid Conditions

Half the patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) had major comorbidities, which were associated with severe ARDS, multiple organ dysfunction, and day‑28 mortality. These findings do not support the exclusion... read more

The Fluid Debate: Balanced or Unbalanced

Consider using balanced fluids in your ED unless you are treating a patient at risk for cerebral edema, or a patient with a chloride responsive metabolic alkalosis, e.g. from gastric losses. Although the superiority of balanced... read more

Very high intact-protein formula successfully provides protein intake according to nutritional recommendations in overweight critically ill patients

Enteral feeding with VHPF (8 g/100 kcal) resulted in higher protein intake and plasma amino acid concentrations than an isocaloric SHPF (5 g/100 kcal), without an increase in energy intake. This VHPF facilitates feeding according... read more

Trophic or Full Nutritional Support?

A two-phase approach for nutritional support may more appropriately account for the physiologic changes during critical illness than one-phase approach. Further evidence is awaited for the optimal protein amount during critical... read more

Effectiveness of targeted enhanced terminal room disinfection on hospital-wide acquisition and infection with multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile

The hospital environment is a source of pathogen transmission. The effect of enhanced disinfection strategies on the hospital-wide incidence of infection has not been investigated in a multicentre, randomised controlled trial.... read more

Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of Proportional-Assist Ventilation Plus vs. Pressure Support Ventilation in the ICU in Two Countries

The published reductions in asynchrony and length of stay in the ICU with proportional assist ventilation (PAV ventilation by Medtronic) led to shorter time on ventilation, and reduced incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia... read more

Clinical Trial Participants’ Views of the Risks and Benefits of Data Sharing

In a survey of participants in clinical trials, most believe the potential benefits of data sharing outweigh potential negative consequences and are willing to share their data. Less than 8% of respondents felt that the potential... read more

FIRST-line Support for Assistance in Breathing in Children (FIRST-ABC)

A multicentre pilot randomised controlled trial of high-flow nasal cannula therapy versus continuous positive airway pressure in pediatric critical care. Our pilot trial confirms that, following minor changes to consent procedures... read more

Abnormal Saline and the History of Intravenous Fluids

Two new clinical trials together involving nearly 30,000 patients support previous observational evidence that the most common solution used for intravenous fluid therapy in the world is associated with kidney damage. Both... read more