Critical Care Alert – August 1, 2009

August 1, 2009

• Extubation to Non-invasive Ventilation for Weaning Reduces Mortality, Morbidity, and Length of Stay

  In 2003, Burns and colleagues published a cochrane review of available studies examining the effects of early direct extubation to non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in adult patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure.

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• Gastric or Duodenal Feeding Tubes: Does It Matter?

  In this study examining both the attainment of nutritional goals and the incidence of complications related to enteral feeding, patients in the medical ICU of a university-affiliated tertiary hospital in Taiwan were randomized to nutritional support via nasoduodenal (ND) vs nasogastric (NG) tubes.

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• Quality of Life Among Survivors of ICU Admission for COPD

  This paper reports on a comprehensive follow-up of patients with severe airway obstruction who were admitted to 92 ICUs or to 3 high-dependency respiratory units in the United Kingdom during 2002 and 2003.

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• Special Feature: Get out of Bed and Walk!

  Early in my career as a respiratory therapist, we had an unusual piece of equipment in the ICU the Birdmobile. This distinctive piece of equipment was a souped-up walker with wheels, to which we added a Bird Mark 7 ventilator, oxygen tanks, and a seat.

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• Pharmacology Watch: Meta-analysis Compares Antihypertensive Classes

  In this issue: Comparing blood pressure medications, determining optimal length of androgen-deprivation therapy, red yeast rice for LDL reduction, and FDA Actions.

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• Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement

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