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When critical illness occurs, the primary goal is to assist patients to survive the acute threat to their lives. This goal is commonly achieved with 75%-90% of patients who are admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) surviving to discharge.
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The purpose of this study was to determine whether use of a simple, easy-to-view, color-coded device could increase adherence to head-of-bed (HOB) elevation guidelines. The device consisted of a piece of glossy printer paper cut into a triangle.
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This study reports on the results of a single-hospital study of a quality improvement intervention to improve palliative care in the ICU.
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Tracking the utilization of intensive care unit (ICU) resources is important in informing clinicians of patterns of use and costs of care, especially as the proportion of patients aged 65 and older increases and ICU resources remain limited.
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Although the original study by Van den Berghe et al sparked interest in the use of intensive insulin therapy in the ICU, subsequent studies have cast doubt on the efficacy and safety of this practice.
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Tracheostomy confers patient benefits such as decreasing laryngeal irritation, improving patient communication, and decreasing sedation requirements, but the optimal timing of this procedure in critically ill patients remains a subject of considerable debate.
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Investigators in the Department of Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, reviewed the charts of patients admitted with myasthenic crisis (MC) between 1987 and 2006 who received either invasive or noninvasive mechanical ventilation.
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In the issue: 5-á reductase inhibitors and hip fracture in men; the effects of drug-reimbursement policy on outcomes; new guidelines for type 2 diabetes; beta-blocker-associated brady-cardia is linked to CVD events; FDA Updates.
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The lung-protective effects of low tidal volumes, as demonstrated by the ARDSnet study, are well accepted in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).