Music as Therapy in the ICU

Music as Therapy in the ICU

Music has been shown to reduce respiratory, cardiac and blood pressure frequencies in response to the reduction of stress hormones. In a randomized clinical trial, it was shown to reduce anxiety and sedation doses/intervals... read more

Long-term Outcomes Associated With Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator in Adults With CKD

Long-term Outcomes Associated With Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator in Adults With CKD

In a large, contemporary, noninterventional study of community-based patients with heart failure and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), ICD placement was not significantly associated with improved survival but was associated with... read more

Polymyxin B‑immobilised Hemoperfusion and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients with Sepsis/Septic Shock

Polymyxin B‑immobilised Hemoperfusion and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients with Sepsis/Septic Shock

Sepsis and septic shock originate from a dysregulated immune response to pathogens and cause millions of deaths worldwide. Endotoxin, a principal component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, is a potent trigger... read more

Long-term Recovery Following Critical Illness in an Australian Cohort

Long-term Recovery Following Critical Illness in an Australian Cohort

Almost all data on 5-year outcomes for critical care survivors come from North America and Europe. The aim of this study was to investigate long-term mortality, physical function, psychological outcomes and health-related... read more

Adjuvant Therapies in Critical Care: Music Therapy

Adjuvant Therapies in Critical Care: Music Therapy

Emerging from the perioperative and oncology fields, music therapy (MT) and patient-directed music interventions (PDMI) have recently garnered interest in the area of critical care. The main goal of these music-based adjuvant... read more

Inspiratory Muscle Training Does Not Improve Clinical Outcomes in 3-week COPD Rehabilitation

Inspiratory Muscle Training Does Not Improve Clinical Outcomes in 3-week COPD Rehabilitation

The value of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is unclear. The RIMTCORE (Routine Inspiratory Muscle Training within COPD Rehabilitation) randomised... read more

Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in ICU Patients Receiving Enteral Nutrition

Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in ICU Patients Receiving Enteral Nutrition

Our results suggested that in patients receiving enteral feeding, pharmacologic SUP is not beneficial and combined interventions may even increase the risk of nosocomial pneumonia. We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane... read more

Do We Need New Trials of Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotic Therapy?

Do We Need New Trials of Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotic Therapy?

Using biomarkers as a guide to tailor the duration of antibiotic treatment in respiratory infections is an attractive hypothesis assessed in several studies. Recent work aiming to summarize the evidence assessed the effect... read more

Association Between Fluid Balance and Outcomes in Critically Ill Children

Association Between Fluid Balance and Outcomes in Critically Ill Children

Fluid overload is common and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality in critically ill children. Additional research should now ideally focus on interventions aimed to mitigate the potential for harm associated... read more

The ADRENAL Trial: Steroids in Septic Shock

The ADRENAL Trial: Steroids in Septic Shock

Randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of adjunctive corticosteroids in septic shock have shown conflicting evidence of clinical relevance. Two trials in particular looked at lower dose hydrocortisone (200mg/day)... read more

Barriers and Facilitators to Early Rehabilitation in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Barriers and Facilitators to Early Rehabilitation in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Using a theoretically driven approach, this study identified important barriers and facilitators to early rehabilitation in ICU patients. In particular, the domains of social influences and behavioral regulation were not... read more

Supplemental Parenteral Nutrition vs. Usual Care in Critically Ill Adults

Supplemental Parenteral Nutrition vs. Usual Care in Critically Ill Adults

This individually titrated supplemental PN strategy applied over 7 days significantly increased energy delivery when compared to usual care delivery. Clinical and functional outcomes were similar between the two patient groups.... read more

Glycaemic Control Targets After TBI

Glycaemic Control Targets After TBI

This meta-analysis of intensive glycaemic control shows no association with reduced mortality in TBI. Intensive glucose control showed a borderline significant reduction in the risk of poor neurological outcome, but markedly... read more

Comparison between a nurse-led weaning protocol and weaning based on physician’s clinical judgment in tracheostomized critically ill patients

Comparison between a nurse-led weaning protocol and weaning based on physician’s clinical judgment in tracheostomized critically ill patients

In this pilot RCT we demonstrated that a nurse-led weaning protocol from tracheostomy was feasible and safe. A larger RCT is justified to assess efficacy. We enrolled 65 patients, 27 were in the protocol group and 38 in the... read more