Search results for "Intensive Care Units"
showing 10 items of 251 documents
The Influence of Infection and Colonization on Outcomes in Inpatients With COVID-19 : Are We Forgetting Something?
2021
The COVID-19 epidemic has been a great challenge to health systems and especially hospitals. A prospective observational epidemiological study was planned as of February 26, 2020 in a tertiary hospital in the Valencia region. The total number of patients followed up with complete information during the first year was 2,448. Among other variables, the comorbidities of the patients were collected (and grouped in the Charson index), the stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), the co-infections, and the colonizations. Data on nosocomial infections due to said virus were also collected. The median days from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis were 4 + 4.6, while an additional 4.4 days had to pass …
Blood alcohol concentration for monitoring ethanol treatment to prevent alcohol withdrawal in the intensive care unit.
2001
Abstract Objective. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a serious complication during postoperative treatment in chronic alcoholics. Despite prophylactic treatment, AWS occurs in at least 25% of these patients after elective surgery. An established protocol for the prevention of AWS is ethanol administration. The aim of this study was to evaluate possible differences in ethanol dose and levels between successfully treated patients and those who developed AWS. Design. Prospective, observational study with retrospective post hoc analysis. Setting. Intensive care unit (ICU). Patients. Thirty-two alcohol-dependent patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery after trauma with postoperativ…
The global challenge of Candida auris in the intensive care unit
2019
Since the first isolation of Candida auris in 2009, scientific community has witnessed an exponential emergence of infection episodes and outbreaks in different world regions. It is hard to predict future C. auris diffusion. By now, global surveillance, improving knowledge, and taking care of the A.U.R.I.S. major issues may be the best ways to face C. auris challenge
Medication errors and risk areas in a critical care unit
2020
The aim of this study was to identify the main medication errors, their causality and the highest risk areas in critical care.A descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective study.We performed a systematic analysis of the prescription, transcription and administration records of 2,634 dose units of medications that were administered to a total of 87 critically ill patients during 2018.Final results have shown important medication errors and a high number of significant drug interactions; prescription phase had the highest mistake rate (71%) and cause of errors (68%); transcription stage had a more variable error typology. A significant correlation was observed between the presence of causes a…
Adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence in intensive care units: Be careful with its use
2016
LETTER TO EDITOR
Need to evaluate the performance of real-time PCR assays for the quantitation of cytomegalovirus DNA load in lower respiratory tract specimens
2013
There is an increasing appreciation for the potential clinical value of the quantitation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in the lower respiratory tract in critically ill patients lacking canonical immunosuppression, in view of the possible pathogenic role of CMV in these patients [1]. No data have been published on the analytical performance of real-time PCR assays for this purpose. We present our data on the performance of the COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan CMV PCR Assay (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) for the quantitation of CMV DNA in tracheal aspirates (TA). This CMV PCR assay has been approved recently by the US Food and Drug Administration for use with plasma specimens [2]. We cho…
Comparison of two delayed strategies for renal replacement therapy initiation for severe acute kidney injury (AKIKI 2): a multicentre, open-label, ra…
2021
International audience; BACKGROUND: Delaying renal replacement therapy (RRT) for some time in critically ill patients with severe acute kidney injury and no severe complication is safe and allows optimisation of the use of medical devices. Major uncertainty remains concerning the duration for which RRT can be postponed without risk. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that a more-delayed initiation strategy would result in more RRT-free days, compared with a delayed strategy. METHODS: This was an unmasked, multicentre, prospective, open-label, randomised, controlled trial done in 39 intensive care units in France. We monitored critically ill patients with severe acute kidney injury (defined …
Prognostic value of blood lactate in critically ill patients
1984
Hyperlactatemia is frequently observed in critically ill patients. A correlation of blood lactate concentrations and outcome of patients has been proven in circulatory shock, circulatory arrest, acute myocardial infarction, acute hypnotic drug poisoning and severe pancreatitis. However, the prognostic relevance of hyperlactatemia yields from statistical examinations in larger groups of patients. It should not be misused as a reliable prognostic sign in the individual patient, but is of high value in comparing groups of patients. In individual patients, hyperlactatemia is a useful indicator pointing to the severity of illness and to superimposed complications. Blood lactate is of considerabl…
Antimicrobial therapy in neonatal intensive care unit
2015
Severe infections represent the main cause of neonatal mortality accounting for more than one million neonatal deaths worldwide every year. Antibiotics are the most commonly prescribed medications in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and in industrialized countries about 1% of neonates are exposed to antibiotic therapy. Sepsis has often nonspecific signs and symptoms and empiric antimicrobial therapy is promptly initiated in high risk of sepsis or symptomatic infants. However continued use of empiric broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment in the setting of negative cultures especially in preterm infants may not be harmless. The benefits of antibiotic therapy when indicated are clearly enor…
Palliative care in intensive care units: Why, where, what, who, when, how
2018
Palliative care is patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering when “curative” therapies are futile. In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), critically ill patients receive life-sustaining therapies with the goal of restoring or maintaining organ function. Palliative Care in the ICU is a widely discussed topic and it is increasingly applied in clinics. It encompasses symptoms control and end-of-life management, communication with relatives and setting goals of care ensuring dignity in death and decision-making power. However, effective application of Palliative Care in ICU presupposes specific knowledge and training which ane…