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This observational study compared simultaneous arterial and central venous blood gases in a mixed patient population and found high agreement between normal gases after the application of a predefined adjustment algorithm.
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A Canadian study reveals that while a majority of elderly patients undergoing hemiarthroplasty did not receive home care upon discharge, those that did had longer short-term survival.
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Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is known to be associated with troponin leaks and ST-wave depression on ECG, both potential markers of ischemia. However, the exact significance of these findings is unclear.
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For patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), the optimal doses of aspirin and clopidogrel remain unknown.
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Patients undergoing major surgery tend to be older individuals with more comorbidities than the general non-surgical population.
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Remember the days before sensitive serum pregnancy tests and 24-hour ultrasound availability? Remember performing a culdocentesis to determine if the patient was stable for discharge? I do, and I don't miss them.
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This web-based survey assessed 1976 critical care practitioners' perceptions of the risks for unplanned extubation. Members of the American Association for Respiratory Care, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine reported a number of factors associated with unplanned extubation, including outward migration of the endotracheal tube (ETT; reported by 73% of respondents), the patient tugging on the ETT (87%), removing a nasogastric tube (71%), absence of physical restraints (72%), a nurse/patient ratio of 1:3 (60%), trips out of the ICU for tests (59%), and light sedation (42%).