Critical Care Alert – June 1, 2014

June 1, 2014

• Ventilator-Associated Events (VAE): An Attempt to Step Out of the Mire

  Hospital-based infection surveillance experts nationwide participated in a survey to access the level of agreement in diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia by evaluating six identical case studies. The level of agreement between participants was poor.

  Read more

• Gloves Are Not Perfect

  After caring for patients with Clostridium difficile infection, nearly 25% of health care workers were found to have hand contamination with C. difficile spores.

  Read more

• Patients with Multiple Medical Emergency Team Calls Are at High Risk for Adverse Outcomes

  In this large observational study in four hospitals with a standardized rapid response system, among patients with an initial team activation who were not immediately transferred to the ICU, those with one or more additional activations during the hospitalization were more likely to need ICU care and had both longer hospital stays and higher mortality.

  Read more

• Frailty: An Important Determinant of Outcome in Critical Illness

  In this prospective study of older ICU patients (mean age, 67 years), frailty as assessed by a simple scale was present in one-third and was strongly associated with increased risk of adverse events, morbidity, and mortality.

  Read more

• Sedative Medications: Challenging to Predict Clinical Effectiveness in Some Mechanically Ventilated Patients

  This pilot study reports that dexmedetomidine might be the sedative of choice for less ill mechanically ventilated ICU patients who take antidepressant medications at home.

  Read more