Comment Continued hope for late neuroprotection with minocycline Michael D Hill Lancet Available online 30 January 2026 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00047-4 Neuroprotection in ischaemic stroke commonly means a treatment that results in the preservation of brain tissue in the setting of either focal or global ischaemia. The nominal focus on neuronal tissue—the neuro in neuroprotection—might be misplaced, as the ultimate goal is preservation of the e...

#LIVES2025: The Silent ICU  In ICU Tue, 28 Oct 2025 While therapeutic music addresses one aspect of the ICU soundscape, alarm management tackles another critical dimension. Margot Van Mol, Assistant Professor in Rotterdam, presented research on creating a smart and silent ICU that addresses the overwhelming alarm burden facing healthcare professionals and patients.  The statistics are sobering: ICU patients can be exposed to 100 to 1,000 a...

#LIVES2025: The Role of Music in the ICU  In ICU Tue, 28 Oct 2025 The intensive care unit environment presents a paradox: while advanced monitoring technology is essential for patient care, the resulting noise pollution may harm the very patients it aims to protect. Two complementary approaches are emerging to address this challenge: therapeutic music interventions and innovative alarm management strategies that promise to...

Editor's Note  AI in Medicine AI Use in Research and the Need for Continued Guidance Preeti N. Malani, Joseph S. Ross JAMA Published Online: January 28, 2026 doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.26845 As artificial intelligence (AI) use proliferates, these tools have become an integral part of daily life for many people, including scientists. AI tools can review text to provide citations and optimize writing, perform data analysis, a...

Editorial Pulse oximetry in people with darker skin tones Thomas S Valley, Andrew W Fogarty BMJ 2026; 392 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.s37 (Published 14 January 2026)Cite this as: BMJ 2026;392:s37 Current devices may overestimate oxygen saturation measurement Pulse oximetry is one of the most widely used medical technologies worldwide, yet it performs less accurately for people with darker skin.1 This inequity requires urgent action. In a linked st...

Prehospital Whole Blood in Traumatic Haemorrhage In ICU Wed, 18 Mar 2026 Findings from the study of whole blood in frontline trauma (SWiFT Trial) were presented at the 45th ISICEM Congress in Brussels. The clinical trial evaluated whether prehospital transfusion of whole blood improves outcomes compared with standard component therapy in patients with life-threatening traumatic haemorrhage. The study addressed a critical evidence gap, as whole-...

Comment Quantifying the public health impact of physical activity Charles E Matthews, Pedro F Saint-Maurice Lancet 2026; 407: 310-311 Recommendations to reduce sedentary time and increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity are at the core of current public health strategies to enhance population health.1, 2 However, the effect of successful population-level changes in these behaviours has not been fully described using accelerometer-based measure...

Acute Respiratory Failure in Immunocompromised Patients In ICU Wed, 18 Mar 2026 Epidemiology, ventilation and outcomes of acute respiratory failure in immunocompromised patients from 103 intensive care units in 26 countries were discussed at ISICEM this week.  Efraim III, a large multinational retrospective observational study, examined the epidemiology, management, and outcomes of acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (ARF) in immunocompro...

Landmark Study: Sepsis Risk and Long-Term Outcomes In Sepsis Tue, 17 Mar 2026 A landmark population-based study on the developmental risk factors and long-term consequences of sepsis was previewed at ISICEM this afternoon. Djillali Annane, director of the ICU and the IHU-PROMETHEUS Comprehensive Sepsis Center at Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Paris, presented early insights from the ongoing research in a French cohort. Drawing on more than 25 years of...

Round Table @ISICEM: Rethinking ICU Myths and Misconceptions In ICU Wed, 18 Mar 2026 An interesting Round Table session @ISICEM, Rethinking ICU myths and misconceptions, challenged clinicians to reconsider how much of intensive care practice is truly evidence-based versus driven by entrenched beliefs. The expert meeting aimed not simply to criticise current practices, but to understand how and why certain clinical beliefs become embedded, even ...