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Dyspepsia represents a common yet nebulous symptom complex encountered in the daily clinical practice of primary care physicians, and it is frequently used synonymously with many different sets of symptoms marked by the presence of upper abdominal pain or discomfort.
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Deep sedation during the early period of mechanical ventilatory support delays extubation and increases mortality, yet is a modifiable risk factor that requires innovative intervention to reduce these adverse outcomes.
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Using a national database, the authors found that morbidly obese patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation had a similar risk of in-hospital mortality compared to non-obese individuals, despite having higher rates of invasive mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy.
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Nationwide from 2000-2009, there was a steady increase in the use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in managing acute respiratory failure, although the percentage of potentially eligible patients who receive it remains small. Importantly, the proportional increase was less for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ([COPD] in which the evidence is compelling and NIV is the standard of care) than for non-COPD causes of respiratory failure (in which the evidence is weaker or conflicting).
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Palliative is derived from the Latin palliare, which means to cloak. In the world of palliative care, cloak is quite representative of the many supportive functions a palliative care team member can provide for a patient and family. This article will help define how the field of palliative medicine has evolved, but it is important to understand some of its history first.
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Despite better compliance with hand hygiene and screening, use of isolation, and other techniques, ICUs remain notorious breeding grounds for hospital-acquired infections. A universal decolonization strategy reduces the total number of ICU bloodborne infections.
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Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a stroke syndrome, defined as rapidly developing neurological dysfunction and/or headache because of bleeding into the subarachnoid space (the space between the subarachnoid membrane and the pia mater of the brain or spinal cord), which is not caused by trauma.1 It is a dire condition with high morbidity and mortality.