Combating antimicrobial resistance; Policy recommendations to save lives: Clin Infect Dis 2011;52 (supplement 5). ** COMMENTARY by Brad Spellberg, MD **
Apr 022011
Apr 012011
Candida urinary tract infections: Clin Infect Dis 2011;52 (supplement 6).
Mar 312011
An excess amount of the chaos and stress endemic to ICUs is due to poor systems engineering (think alarm fatigue); a rational, integrated approach to design & technology selection is needed to make ICUs more effective and safer for patients, argue Mathews & Pronovost. Academic health systems should fill the leadership vacuum, organize stakeholders and [… read more]
Mar 272011
Long-term complications of critical care: Desai SV, Crit Care Med 2011;39:371-379.
Mar 222011
Sadaka et al add their two cents and a cohort study to the Xigris efficacy/safety debate. In their retrospective, propensity-matched analysis of 563 patients sourced from the Project IMPACT database, the 108 who received activated protein C had 35% mortality, vs 54% for the 108 who did not (p=0.005). There were unusually low rates of [… read more]
Mar 212011
The EMShockNet team previously claimed in JAMA that hyperoxia (paO2>300) after cardiac arrest could be deadly (63% in-hospital mortality vs 45% in normoxic patients). After looking at 12,108 database records in Australia/New Zealand, Bellomo et al beg to differ. By applying severity of illness/propensity models, they found no increased risk of death in those with [… read more]
Mar 192011
THIS STUDY HAS BEEN RETRACTED.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]
Mar 192011
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]
Mar 132011
Critical care for patients with stroke. Lukovits TG, CHEST 2011;139:694-700.
Mar 122011
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]
Mar 112011
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.
Mar 102011
The effect of light on critical illness. Castro R, Critical Care 2011; 15:218
Mar 102011
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]
Mar 092011
New treatments against gram-negative organisms. Bassetti M, Critical Care 2011;15:215. New antibiotics review.
Mar 062011
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]
Mar 022011
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]
Feb 162011
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.
Jan 162011
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]
Jul 022010
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]
Jul 012010
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