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In this issue: Statins and liver function; dosing timing for thyroxine; rivaroxaban for VTE, DVT, and stroke; echinacea and the common cold; and FDA actions.
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Hyponatremia is frequently seen in patients with left ventricular failure and has recently been shown to be associated with right ventricular dysfunction and worse outcomes in patients with pulmonary hypertension.
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Due to its lack of cardiovascular side effects, the short-acting non-barbiturate sedative, etomidate, has been one of the primary agents used to sedate hypotensive patients during rapid-sequence intubation (RSI).
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In this study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, Herasevich et al tested an electronic algorithm that incorporated patient characteristics and ventilator data and notified clinicians immediately when potentially injurious ventilator settings were being used.
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Laboratory studies and clinical data support the concept that prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) can induce or worsen lung injury, via activation of inflammatory mediators and/or microvascular fibrin deposition, processes that may be ameliorated by heparin.
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Debate exists over the use of certain medications in rapid sequence induction (RSI) for critically ill patients requiring intubation.
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Pain defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage1 is a common symptom experienced by critically ill patients.
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Gershengorn and colleagues used prospectively collected data from the Project IMPACT database (a nationwide, voluntary, proprietary database for assessing performance of U.S. ICUs with respect to patient outcomes and numerous other variables) to examine the question of whether the use of arterial catheters (ACs) in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients was associated with improved survival or other documentable benefits.
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The Choosing Wisely Campaign was introduced in 2011 by the American Board of Internal Medicine to identify practices and procedures physicians and patients should question. The critical care top 5 list was developed through a collaborative effort of several critical care societies.
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