THIS STUDY HAS BEEN RETRACTED. Kupfer et al looked retrospectively at 168 vented patients with transudative pleural effusions at Maimonides in Brooklyn. The half that got chest tubes (with an average of 1,200 mL drained) spent 3.8 days on the vent, vs 6.5 days for the group that got only thoracentesis, with no complications reported. [… read more]
Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis: Pooling 11 randomized trials, n=1,971, Blackwood et al suggested there are some benefits to using a standardized weaning protocol. There was a reduction in weaning and ventilation time in the groups that had weaning protocols; we won’t report them here, because they would be misleading in this small space. They [… read more]
Critical care for patients with stroke. Lukovits TG, CHEST 2011;139:694-700.
Sacanella et al prospectively observed 230 generally healthy, cognitively intact, highly functional & independently living Spaniards 65 years or older (mean age 75) after urgent admission to a single MICU. About half received mechanical ventilation (54%). Seventy died in-hospital; 48 died within a year, for a one-year survival of 49%. But among the 112 survivors, [… read more]
Roquilly et ses amis francais randomized 150 critically ill victims of severe French trauma to hydrocortisone or placebo for 7 days. The treated group had an absolute 16-19% lower risk for hospital-acquired pneumonia, the primary endpoint (36% vs. 51-54% depending on which intention-to-treat analysis you prefer, p=0.007 to 0.01). (n=150). JAMA 2011;305:1201-1209.
The effect of light on critical illness. Castro R, Critical Care 2011; 15:218
Fernandez-Cerrano et al randomized 56 people with CAP in Spain (only 3 needed mechanical ventilation) to receive methylprednisolone bolus-and-taper or placebo, in addition to ceftriaxone and levofloxacin. The steroid-treated group had less hypoxemia (lower PaO2/FiO2). (n=56). Critical Care 2011;15:R96. FREE FULL TEXT MORE ON THIS: In AJRCCM 2005, Confalonieri found less septic shock and need [… read more]
New treatments against gram-negative organisms. Bassetti M, Critical Care 2011;15:215. New antibiotics review.
How “hard” should we “hit” our patients with Lasix? And does that hurt? Felker et al asked that (sort of) in a NHLBI-funded trial. They gave furosemide to 308 patients hospitalized for ADHF in an IV dose either equivalent to their home dose, or at 2.5 times their home dose, and either at q12-hour intervals [… read more]
In a rare encouraging positive study in the chronically critically ill, 71% of vent-dependent patients (~6 weeks on MV) who did multiple sets of daily inspirations backwards through a PEEP valve weaned from mechanical ventilation (defined as >72 hrs off the vent), vs. 47% receiving a sham treatment. MIP also improved by 10 cmH2O in [… read more]
ARDS and multi-organ failure: Curr Opin Crit Care 2011;17:1-6. Hemodynamic monitoring of ventilated patients: Ibid, pp. 36-42 The ‘ABCDE’ bundle for critical care: Ibid, pp. 43-49. Managing severely hypoxemic patients: Ibid.
ICU patients have a 5-10% risk of deep venous thrombosis, even with appropriate prophylaxis. Ultrasound screening can detect many of these asymptomatic and clinically unsuspected DVTs. However, since many DVTs disappear without incident, and complications can result from additional testing and treatment with anticoagulation, and all of this costs money, the best approach to prevention [… read more]
In case there was any question, no you can’t use the femoral vein to collect ScvO2 samples. Davison et al found a bias of 4% between femoral and nonfemoral sources in 39 critically ill patients (with an interestingly wide standard deviation of 12% in blood obtained from either source). In more than half the patients, [… read more]
Cavallazzi et al reviewed 10 cohort studies and concluded that compared to daytime admission, being admitted to an ICU at night did not increase the odds ratio for mortality. Being admitted on a weekend supposedly did, but the odds ratio was only 1.08. CHEST 2010;138:68-75. FREE FULL TEXT
Meade MO et al. (Lung open ventilation study investigators) Ventilation strategy using low tidal volumes, recruitment maneuvers, and high positive end-expiratory pressure for acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2008; 299:637-45. Higher PEEP provided no benefit in 28-day mortality (28 vs 32%, p = 0.2), although it reduced refractory hypoxia (~5% [… read more]
Brower RG et al. Higher versus lower positive end-expiratory pressures in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med 2004;351:327-36. Randomized trial among 549 patients with ARDS/ALI conducted by NHLBI/ARDSNet. Compared high and low PEEP strategies, and found no significant difference in mortality, ventilator-free days, ICU-free days, or organ failure-free days between [… read more]
Herridge MS et al. One-year outcomes in survivors of the acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003; 348:683-93. Non-pulmonary problems are usually dominant in impairment of ARDS survivors. Low exercise tolerance, fatigue, and weakness are common a year after discharge. Pulmonary function tests usually normalized, other than a diffusion impairment. At 12 months, only 6% [… read more]
ARDS Network. Ventilation with lower tidal volumes as compared with traditional tidal volumes for ALI and ARDS. N Engl J Med 2000;342:1301-8. The ARMA study found the use of low (6 ml/kg predicted weight) rather than “standard” (12 ml/kg predicted weight) tidal volumes reduced mortality from 40 to 30%. This paper established the standard of low [… read more]
Rubenfeld GD, Caldwell E, Granton J, et al. Interobserver variability in applying a radiographic definition for ARDS. Chest 1999;116:1347-53. Interobserver agreement was only moderate for diagnosing ARDS among 21 experts using consensus radiographic criteria.
Hudson LD et al. Clinical risks for development of ARDS. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1995;151:293-301. Incidence of ARDS in patients with various risk factors. Showed that ARDS develops within 48 to 72 hours of the time clinical risk is identified in the vast majority of patients.
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