Search Tag: critically ill
2016 24 May
Gunnar Elke, MD, of the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and colleagues have published an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of enteral compared to parenteral nutrition in critically ill patients. The review includes the data from the...Read more
2016 25 Apr
The harmful side-effects of mechanical ventilation on respiratory muscles are addressed by two recent publications, which provide an overview of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention and possible treatment therapies. David Berger, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland and colleagues...Read more
2016 12 Apr
ICU-acquired weakness (ICAUW) in some patients can last a long time, even when the biologic functions that cause muscles to waste have returned to normal. A pilot study led by respirologist Dr. Jane Batt , MD, PhD (pictured), from the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada, found that long term muscle...Read more
2016 11 Mar
This review explores current definitions of frailty, methods available to diagnose it, and its application to perioperative and critically ill patients. Frailty is increasingly recognised as a potential contributor to patient outcome during an episode of critical illness. However, there is currently no consensus definition or assessment tool....Read more
2016 02 Feb
ICUsteps was founded in the UK by 2005 by ex-patients, their relatives and ICU staff to support patients and their families through the long road to recovery from critical illness. ICUsteps is the only support group for people who have been affected by critical illness and has helped many former patients, their relatives and medical staff from...Read more
2016 25 Jan
A systematic review of the use of earplugs to reduce delirium in intensive care patients has found that they significantly reduce the risk of delirium. The review, by Edward Litton, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, St John of God Hospital Subiaco , Australia and colleagues is published in Critical Care Medicine . The review analysed data from...Read more
2016 19 Jan
The 2009 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) nutrition therapy guidelines for critically ill patients have been updated by a multidisciplinary committee of experts in clinical nutrition and are published by ASPEN and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition . The...Read more
2016 07 Jan
ICU readmission is associated with higher severity of illness scores during the same hospitalisation in adult patients, according to a systematic review of data from over 480,000 ICU patients and more than 32,000 readmissions. The findings, published in the journal Heart & Lung , contribute to current efforts to identify high-risk patients and to...Read more
2015 08 Dec
New research has found reduced bone mass in patients one year after being hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU). The loss of bone density, along with other clinical risk factors assessed by a World Health Organization algorithm, may increase their chances of suffering a fragility fracture, according to researchers. Neil R. Orford, MBBS, director...Read more
2015 05 Dec
Tracheostomies are among the most common procedures performed in critically ill patients, and intensive care nurses can take an active role in helping restore speech to patients with tracheostomies, according to a report published in the journal Critical Care Nurse . Nursing assessments and interventions to help patients regain the ability to speak...Read more
2015 26 Nov
Introducing the International Fluid Academy A neglected topic for way too long, the interest in fluid therapy seems to be quickly rising as the medical community is making a shift from looking at fluids as a mere method of stabilization towards the appreciation of its relevant side effects. Read more
2015 11 Nov
Up to 90 percent of patients in the intensive care unit experience delirium and this can have a profound and lasting impact on them, according to a new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Critical Care (AJCC) . The research aims to improve clinicians’ understanding of delirium and enable them to help their patients address...Read more
2015 23 Oct
A systematic review finds no clear evidence on the effectiveness of different non-pharmacological interventions — including noise reduction, music therapy and social support — for improving sleep in critically ill adults in the ICU. The results are discussed in an article published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR). Sleep is essential...Read more
2015 13 Oct
Checklists and training are essential when transporting the ICU patient, according to Andreas Valentin, Vienna, speaking at the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) congress in Berlin on 6 October. His advice was simple: 1. Keep extrinsic risk at the lowest possible level; 2. Be familiar with the equipment used during the transport;...Read more
2015 07 Oct
A multicentre study finds that early noninvasive ventilation, compared with oxygen therapy alone, did not reduce the risk of 28-day mortality among immunocompromised patients admitted to the ICU with hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure. The study is published by JAMA to coincide with its presentation at the 28th annual congress of the European Society...Read more
2015 14 Aug
New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, MA) shows that web-based toolkits used by patients and/or their healthcare providers in the hospital setting can help increase patient engagement and improve communication with clinicians. The findings are reported in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The study was conducted...Read more
2015 03 Aug
In Ireland, the number of transplants this year has increased following the appointment of six nurses in hospitals across the country who liaise with bereaved families about donating a loved one's organs. So far, 157 transplants have been performed, involving 47 deceased donors and 17 living donors. For 2015, authorities say, the overall target is...Read more
2015 16 Jul
Critically ill patients with complex diagnoses generally receive better and less expensive care at long-term acute care hospitals (LTCHs), according to a new study reported in the journal Medical Care . Results showed lower death rates and similar or lower Medicare costs at LTCHs, compared with other care settings, for patients with multiple organ...Read more
2015 27 Jun
A new UK study published in the journal Thorax has identified an important new approach to diagnose infections in critically ill patients rapidly and accurately. The new method involves chemical analysis of breath specimens from patients in intensive care to detect bacterial infection in the lower respiratory tract of ventilated patients at risk of...Read more
2015 08 Jun
A Johns Hopkins Medicine-led study shows that nearly 30 percent of all ICU patients develop delirium, a condition that prolongs hospital stays and significantly increases one’s risk of dying in the hospital. The findings are published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) . Although intensive care teams have long been aware that a significant percentage...Read more
2015 25 May
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most important nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICUs). Measures have been taken to prevent morbidity of VAP, such as semi-recumbent body position, hand hygiene, and daily bathing with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). However, results of previous studies on the effectiveness of daily chlorhexidine...Read more
2015 24 May
Based on a study on long-term outcomes for critically ill patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation, a high proportion of patients survived to hospital discharge, but only half were able to be fully weaned off of the ventilator, and fewer than half of the patients were still alive at the one year mark. Critical Care and Emergency Medicine...Read more
2015 24 May
Prolonged mechanical ventilation poses a significant impact on the long-term well-being of patients. In a study of critically ill patients who had been mechanically ventilated for more than seven days, researchers found that the subjects were at greater risk for functional impairment and mortality at one year following discharge from the intensive care...Read more
2015 20 May
Care of the critically ill patient can become complicated when a clinician is asked by the patient's family to administer invasive interventions that the clinician believes will not benefit the patient. Resolving this kind of conflict and other issues concerning treatment of intensive care patients is the primary aim of a new policy statement from the...Read more
2015 25 Apr
A new study shows that new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF), a common arrhythmia in the ICU, occurred in approximately 5 to 15 percent of all non-cardiac critically ill patients — a figure exceeding previous estimates. Also, hospital mortality in new-onset AF patients was higher than that of patients without AF, according to the study published in the...Read more
2015 24 Apr
A new technique of drawing blood from a patient using a modified intra-arterial (IA) line can reduce blood wastage significantly, according to a team of nurses from the intensive care unit (ICU) at Alexandra Hospital in Singapore. The modification adds a three-way tap and an additional syringe to the existing IA line kit. “The additional syringe serves...Read more
2015 25 Mar
A life-support technology called ECMO that takes over for the failing hearts and lungs of critically ill patients saves lives. However, a new study has found that adults treated with ECMO were less likely to die when they were treated at hospitals caring for more ECMO patients per year. That is the key finding of the first large study in patients of...Read more
2015 17 Mar
A large clinical trial provides reassuring evidence about the safety of blood routinely transfused to critically ill patients, with data showing that blood stored for three weeks is just as good as fresh blood. The findings are published online in The New England Journal of Medicine . A team of researchers from 64 Canadian and European centres conducted...Read more