24-Hour Esophageal pH Measurement in Mechanically Ventilated Children

24-Hour Esophageal pH Measurement in Mechanically Ventilated Children

The current study shows high incidence of gastroesophageal reflux on 24-hour esophageal pH-metry in mechanically ventilated children with medical diagnoses. The significance of this finding and its impact on ventilator-associated... read more

Early Tracheotomy Shortens ICU Stay and Lowers Risk of VAP

Early Tracheotomy Shortens ICU Stay and Lowers Risk of VAP

Compared with late tracheotomy, early intervention was associated with lower ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates and shorter durations of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay, but not with reduced short-term, all-cause... read more

Bacterial Profile of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia: Concept, Review, Methods, Observations, Inference

Bacterial Profile of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia: Concept, Review, Methods, Observations, Inference

ICU is a hotbed of infections and measures are taken to prevent these infections. Ventilator associated pneumonia is one of the Intensive Care Unit related infections. This book tells us what ventilator associated pneumonia... read more

Anaphylatoxin C5a Impairs Phagocytosis by Neutrophils

Anaphylatoxin C5a Impairs Phagocytosis by Neutrophils

This study provides new insight into the mechanisms underlying immunocompromise in critical illness and suggests novel avenues for therapy and prevention of nosocomial infection. Critically ill patients are at heightened... read more

Risks Of VAP in Patients With Viral ARDS Related or Not To COVID-19

Risks Of VAP in Patients With Viral ARDS Related or Not To COVID-19

In this retrospective case-control study, we have observed a higher prevalence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and MDR VAP in C-ARDS as compared with NC-ARDS patients. Further, probably multicenter, research work... read more

Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)

Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI)

Urinalysis should not be checked simply due to cloudy or odorous urine (Class A recommendation from Infectious Diseases Society of America). This probably represents colonization of the Foley bag, not invasive infection. Be... read more

5-year Study Shows Predominance of Non-Device-Associated Pneumonia

5-year Study Shows Predominance of Non-Device-Associated Pneumonia

Among more than 160,000 patients admitted to University of North Carolina hospitals during a recent 5-year period, non-device-associated, or ND, pneumonia was implicated in three of every four nosocomial pneumonia cases,... read more

Prophylactic Antibiotics After Cardiac Arrest?

Prophylactic Antibiotics After Cardiac Arrest?

This is a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of patients resuscitated from shockable out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.​ Patients were randomized to placebo versus intravenous amoxicillin-clavulanate for two... read more

The Effect of Early Mobilization in Critically Ill Patients

The Effect of Early Mobilization in Critically Ill Patients

This study indicated that early mobilization was effective in preventing the occurrence of ICU-AW, shortening the length of ICU and hospital stay, and improving the functional mobility. However, it had no effect on the ICU... read more

Impact of a Multifaceted Prevention Program on VAP Including Selective Oropharyngeal Decontamination

Impact of a Multifaceted Prevention Program on VAP Including Selective Oropharyngeal Decontamination

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains a serious complication of mechanical ventilation (MV), and has an incidence between 2 and 16 episodes per 1000 ventilator-days, an attributable mortality of 5–13%, excess ICU... read more

Diagnosis of Nonventilated Hospital-acquired Pneumonia

Diagnosis of Nonventilated Hospital-acquired Pneumonia

Nonventilated hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) poses several barriers for diagnosis compared with VAP, and the available knowledge is limited. A call for further research in diagnosis of nonventilated HAP is urgent.... read more

What should we stop doing in the ICU?

Intensive care is an interesting specialty. From all the early excitement in the 1970s, passing through two decades of intensive physiological use at the bedside, intensive care landed on the rough ground of modern randomized... read more

Closed ICU Model Linked to 100% Reduction in Several HAIs

Closed ICU Model Linked to 100% Reduction in Several HAIs

A closed intensive care unit model, in which a patient is evaluated and admitted under an intensivist and patient care orders are written by ICU staff, can help reduce rates of several healthcare-associated infections (HAI),... read more

New Guidelines for Hospital-acquired Pneumonia/Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

New Guidelines for Hospital-acquired Pneumonia/Ventilator-associated Pneumonia

American and European guidelines have many areas of common agreement such as limiting antibiotic duration. Both guidelines were in favor of a close clinical assessment. Neither recommended a regular use of biomarkers but... read more

Antibiotic Treatment of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia

Antibiotic Treatment of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia

Although more prospective therapy trials of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia (HAP) are needed, based on currently available data, it is possible to use an approach that provides appropriate therapy without the overuse of broad-spectrum... read more

Probiotic and Synbiotic Therapy in Critical Illness

Probiotic and Synbiotic Therapy in Critical Illness

Critical illness is characterized by a loss of commensal flora and an overgrowth of potentially pathogenic bacteria, leading to a high susceptibility to nosocomial infections. Probiotics are living non-pathogenic microorganisms,... read more

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

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