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Jaber and colleagues report a series of 112 intubations of patients in their multidisciplinary ICU in Montpellier, France, during a 14-month period. Every ventilated patient underwent a cuff-leak test prior to extubation, and the incidence of post-extubation stridor was determined.
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Providing a universal consent form to patients, proxies, and staff increased the frequency with which consent was obtained without compromising understanding of the process.
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Of 100 keyboards in 29 clinical areas tested for bacterial contamination, 95% were positive for microorganisms, including one with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus.
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In a cohort of 91 ICU patients without known causes for hemoglobin decline other than blood draws and critical illness, serum hemoglobin levels declined by an average of 0.52 g/dL/d. The decline was more rapid during the first 3 days in the ICU and among patients who were septic.
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In this study of a large nationwide database, mortality during hospitalization for acute exacerbation of COPD was 2.5%, which is substantially lower than that reported in previous studies.
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Inhaled drugs are commonly used during mechanical ventilation. The physiologic effects of bronchodilators delivered by nebulizer or pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) are virtually equivalent.
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Two severely ill patients in the emergency department of your hospital need admission to the ICU, but only one bed is available. Who gets admitted first? Another critical care patient is severely ill, with several coexisting conditions.
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When does critical care become just another emergency department (ED) visit? When you fail to document it properly. You may do all the right things and have a patient in crisis, but if the paperwork isnt done properly, you dont get paid for your efforts.
