Pancreatic Stone Protein Testing Reduces Expenditure in Sepsis Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction and a cause of significant morbidity and mortality. In addition, the high number of sepsis cases is a significant economic burden for healthcare systems. Statistics show that sepsis was the most expensive condition treated in the U.S. in 2013, costing nearly $24 billion. An analysis of Medicare claims in 2020 found a 40% increase in sepsis-related hospital ...

ICU Management & Practice, Volume 21 - Issue 3, 2021 Oxygen Therapy in COVID-19 Patients: The Role of HFNC and CPAP Oxygen therapy and mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 and steps to choose the right therapeutic strategy for each patient. Introduction Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus CoV-2 is the highly contagious viral agent responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is the name of the syndrome caused by SARS-C...

Sleep Assessment in Critically Ill Adults Sleep in adult patients in the ICU is severely disturbed and typically short, light and fragmented. In addition, interventions in the ICU such as sedation, ventilation and illness can alter sleep characteristics. Some of the most common causes of sleep disruption include environmental factors such as noise and light; physiologic factors, such as pain, immobility, discomfort and coughing; care-related factors, such as nursin...

Clinical Outcomes With and Without Direct Discharge Home ICUs are an important part of an acute care system and provide life-sustaining treatment to critically ill patients. The level and complexity of care delivered in ICUs can vary. For example, some ICUs provide support for multiple organ failure, while others may focus on single-system support or might be a point of transition between the ward and the highest level of care. Patient care pathways, in general, fu...

ICU vs High-Dependency Care Unit for Septic Shock Sepsis is a life-threatening disease with high mortality. More than 10,000 people die from sepsis every year in Japan. Septic shock is when sepsis is associated with circulatory and cellular metabolic abnormalities. International guidelines recommend the use of antimicrobial therapy and source control with drainage or surgery, intensive care with fluid resuscitation and vasopressors for septic shock. However, there ...

Sepsis Awareness - Patient, Public and Healthcare Professionals Sepsis is a preventable cause of death. Early recognition, diagnosis, and appropriate clinical management can prevent sepsis and improve outcomes. However, the condition is not widely recognised by patients and the general public. In addition, knowledge gaps also persist among healthcare professionals.  Increasing knowledge and awareness of sepsis, its risk factors and symptoms among the public...

Neurologic Manifestations of COVID-19 Approximately 10-15% of patients with COVID-19 require ICU treatment. Respiratory failure and multi-organ dysfunction are the most common indications for ICU admission. However, nearly 1/3 of COVID-19 patients also present with neurologic manifestations. Neurologic manifestations are believed to predict mortality and functional outcome. While there have been reports of neurologic manifestations in patients with COVID-19,&nbs...

Impact of Health Information Technology in Acute Care Settings Critically ill patients admitted to inpatient facilities are often at risk of acute physiologic deterioration. This deterioration can lead to prolonged hospitalisation, admission to the ICU, and cardiorespiratory arrest. Often, a patient's worsening condition remains undetected for hours before the escalation of care. Strategies have been used to recognise deterioration early, ranging from ale...

Extended Prone Positioning for COVID-19 ARDS COVID-19 has resulted in an estimated 270,000 hospitalisations in ICUs in Europe between May 2020 and March 2022. Nearly 80% of these patients have required tracheal intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation. While there is still an ongoing debate whether acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) physiopathology is the same in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, there is consensus on the benefits of prone position....

Prehospital Time and In-Hospital Trauma Mortality Time has always been considered an essential determinant of outcome in the early care of trauma patients, and the concept of trauma as a time-sensitive condition has been part of education and policy for decades. However, data on system performance from physician-staffed EMS are far less abundant than data from EMS systems. Physician-staffed EMS is believed to add complexity by performing more interventions that cou...