Comorbidities at ICU Admission and Post-Sepsis Physical Impairment In Sepsis Tue, 28 May 2024 Sepsis causes 11 million deaths annually and is linked to post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which includes physical impairment, reduced quality of life, and posttraumatic stress syndrome. Despite multidisciplinary interventions, up to 61.4% of sepsis patients experience physical impairment at hospital discharge. This is a significant outcome of sepsis and a...

Invited Commentary  June 18, 2024 The American College of Surgeons Approach to Public Reporting Anoosha Moturu, Patricia L. Turner, Clifford Y. Ko JAMA Surg. Published online June 18, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2024.1591 We commend Diaz et al1 for studying the limitations of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Star Rating System for reporting surgical quality and agree a need exists to improve publicly reported hospita...

Pain Monitoring and Management in Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review In ICU Fri, 17 May 2024 ICU Management & Practice, Volume 24 - Issue 3, 2024 Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Among patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), severe untreated pain is associated with an increase in mortality, length of hospital stays and worsening in everyday quality of life after hospital discharge. Pain in crit...

Invited Commentary  Surgery June 18, 2024 The Future of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery—Precision vs Protocol Alison R. Althans, Jennifer Holder-Murray, Robert A. Tessler JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(6):e2418968. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18968 Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is associated with shorter hospital length-of-stay and fewer complications, according to a robust meta-analysis and systematic review by Sauro and colleagues1...

Prompt Antimicrobial Therapy in Adults with Bacteraemia In ICU Thu, 30 May 2024 Bloodstream infections significantly impact morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs despite advancements in critical care and antimicrobial strategies. Prompt assessment and source control, as recommended by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, are important to improve outcomes for severe sepsis and septic shock patients. Timely source control is crucial for improving outcomes...

Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence for Delayed Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Treatment In ICU Mon, 20 May 2024 Each year, over five million people worldwide suffer severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI), with predicting recovery being challenging due to various factors. Families often face the decision to continue or withdraw life-sustaining treatment (WLST), typically within 72 hours post-injury, often based on clinicians' prognosis. However, this decisi...

Expiratory Flow Limitation During Mechanical Ventilation In ICU Wed, 22 May 2024 Expiratory flow limitation (EFL) occurs when the expiratory flow cannot increase despite higher driving pressure at a given lung volume. In airway disease patients, this can happen during tidal expiration (tidal EFL - EFLT). The prevalence of EFLT in intubated patients varies with population, PEEP settings, and detection methods, with up to one-third of mechanically ventil...

COMMENT|ONLINE FIRST Protecting the blood donor: ferritin-based intervals to improve donor health Laura Infanti Lancet Published: June 13, 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01212-1 Strict eligibility criteria and the ageing of the general population are among the main factors limiting blood donor availability,1 and render the retention of experienced donors and the acquisition of new volunteers a demanding task. Also, a temporary inability to ...

Intravenous Landiolol: Rate Control in Supraventricular Tachyarrhythmias in Patients with LVD In ICU Fri, 17 May 2024 ICU Management & Practice, Volume 24 - Issue 3, 2024 Athina Nasoufidou Second Department of Cardiology Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Hippokration General Hospital Thessaloniki, Greece A systematic review investigating landiolol's efficacy in non-septic or post-operated SVT patients with concomitant left ventricular...

ASTER Trial: Acetaminophen and Organ Dysfunction in Patients With Sepsis In Sepsis Wed, 22 May 2024 Acetaminophen (paracetamol) has several pharmacological effects that are potentially beneficial in sepsis, including analgesia, antipyresis, and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition. Observational studies and small clinical trials suggest acetaminophen improves survival and kidney function in sepsis patients with elevated cell-free haemoglobin. However, a&nb...