Critical Care Topics
RSSArticles
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Routine Ethics Consults Helpful if ECMO Is Considered
When a patient is placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), usually emergently, families have begun to face the gravity of the situation. Suddenly, ECMO offers new hope. Even though the primary team explains ECMO will be a time-limited trial and a bridge to recovery, transplant, or device, many families remain focused only on the possibility of hope.
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Court Ruling on Life Support Withdrawal Affects Ethics Committees
Hospitals may need to afford more procedural due process when deciding on whether to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment without consent.
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Multimodal Pain Control Strategy Shows Promise in Trauma Patients
Researchers continue searching for ways to minimize opioid exposure.
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COVID-19 Patients Can Be Managed Safely with Noninvasive Respiratory Strategies
In this retrospective chart review of adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19 over a one-month period, the implementation of a noninvasive respiratory protocol that encouraged high-flow nasal cannula, noninvasive mechanical ventilation, and self-proning did not result in any significant increase in mortality.
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In the Setting of Non-COVID ARDS, Improvement in Oxygenation with Proning Predicts Survival
In this retrospective cohort study, improvement in the PaO2/FiO2 (P/F) ratio by 54% was the optimal cutoff to predict those more likely to be alive at 28 days.
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Prone Positioning in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
A review of the potential benefits and uses of prone positioning in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome
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Patients with Higher Renin Levels May Derive More Benefit from Angiotensin II Treatment
Serum renin concentration in patients with catecholamine-resistant vasodilatory shock may identify those for whom treatment with angiotensin II has improved intensive care unit outcomes.
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Convalescent Plasma Therapy Does Not Affect Time to Clinical Improvement in Patients with Severe and Life-Threatening COVID-19
This was a randomized, open-label, multicenter trial of intravenous convalescent plasma infusion (4 mL/kg to 13 mL/kg) therapy. Convalescent plasma therapy was not associated with improvements in mortality or time to clinical improvement.
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A Review of Current Therapeutics for Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia
The aim of this special feature is to review therapeutic options for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
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Norepinephrine Infusion Through Peripheral Intravenous Lines: Is it Safe?
In a large perioperative patient population, norepinephrine infusion through peripheral intravenous lines did not result in any significant adverse events. However, the specific patient population, limited duration of infusion, and hospital setting may limit the generalizability of these findings.