Search Tag: ICU
2024 09 Oct
The ESICM Green Paper on sustainability was launched at #LIVES2024 in Barcelona, providing a roadmap for reducing the ICU’s footprint while maintaining top care. The healthcare sector, particularly ICUs, significantly impacts the environment due to its high energy consumption, waste generation, and reliance on single-use devices. With...Read more
2024 08 Oct
End-of-life (EoL) care focuses on symptom relief and addressing the emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. These decisions are influenced by ethical, legal, cultural, and resource-related factors, and practices vary globally. In some countries, life-supporting treatment (LST) decisions are shared with families,...Read more
2024 03 Oct
Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) is a critical issue affecting survivors of intensive care. PICS involves new or worsened physical, psychological, and cognitive impairments after critical illness, significantly impacting health-related quality of life (HRQoL), functional outcomes, and employment. Critical care rehabilitation occurs in four...Read more
2024 01 Oct
Early mobilisation in critical care significantly improves outcomes in critically ill patients. Overcoming boundaries requires a proactive approach, training, research and multidisciplinary collaboration. Introduction Early mobilisation in the critically ill patient is essential to mitigate the adverse consequences of bed rest and...Read more
2024 03 Jul
Up to 80% of mechanically ventilated ICU patients experience acute brain dysfunction, commonly manifesting as delirium or coma. Both conditions are linked to increased mortality and long-term cognitive impairment in survivors. The underlying pathophysiology of acute brain dysfunction during respiratory failure is poorly understood. Previous...Read more
2024 02 Jul
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. The Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, developed in 1996, quantifies organ dysfunction across six systems: neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, liver, and coagulation. Initially specific to sepsis, the SOFA score is widely...Read more
2024 28 May
Sepsis causes 11 million deaths annually and is linked to post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which includes physical impairment, reduced quality of life, and posttraumatic stress syndrome. Despite multidisciplinary interventions, up to 61.4% of sepsis patients experience physical impairment at hospital discharge. This is a significant outcome...Read more
2024 09 Apr
Delirium is a common psychiatric syndrome in critically ill patients, associated with high mortality rates and long-term cognitive decline. Recent trials on medication-based treatments have not shown significant benefits, leading to a shift towards nonpharmacologic approaches. The Society of Critical Care Medicine recommends comprehensive...Read more
2024 12 Mar
Corticosteroids are commonly used drugs in multiple diseases and conditions of critically ill patients. In this article, we review the pharmacology of corticosteroids and provide recommendations for their use in the ICU based on the best available evidence. Corticosteroids: Pharmacology and General Aspects Corticosteroids are...Read more
2024 05 Mar
A new study reviewed existing literature on workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers (HCWs) in ICUs, focusing on prevalence, risk factors, interventions, and preventive measures. WPV, defined as violent acts or threats directed towards individuals at work, is a significant issue globally, with HCWs experiencing a 20% higher rate compared...Read more
2023 03 Oct
Mechanical ventilation is crucial for supporting critically ill patients, and a timely extubation strategy is essential for improved patient outcomes. Despite standard weaning procedures, a significant percentage of patients (3-20%) require reintubation. Post-extubation respiratory failure can cause respiratory fatigue, requiring additional mechanical...Read more
2023 06 Feb
Many machine learning (ML) models have been developed for use in the ICU, but their effectiveness in new settings is uncertain due to a lack of external validation. A study showed that less than one-third of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ML models have undergone multisite assessment. In addition, only 11% of ICU prediction models have...Read more
2022 20 Oct
Nearly one-quarter of the world’s population are children aged 0–14 years, with this proportion rising to almost 50% in some countries. Children account for nearly one-fifth of all emergency department visits in the USA and U.K., with an increasing trend of emergency admissions requiring intensive care. Data from emergency departments in England...Read more
2022 10 May
Critical care physicians often use ineffective treatments that lack evidence-based data. This is especially true for delirium. To date, no medications have demonstrated therapeutic benefit for this condition. Medical treatment is either targeted toward preventing delirium or treating agitation associated with it. Behavioural interventions are rarely...Read more
2022 08 Mar
Delirium is the most common cerebral dysfunction in the ICU, affecting nearly one-third of patients. Based on its clinical manifestation, it can be divided into a hypoactive, hyperactive, or mixed motor subtype. Patients with hyperactive delirium are usually in an agitated state of mind and can display symptoms of aggression and restlessness. Patients...Read more
2022 08 Feb
Premier Philadelphia Academic Medical Center Implements Advanced Masimo Wearable, Wireless Patient Position, Orientation, and Activity Sensors in its ICUs Masimo and Temple Health has announced that Temple University Hospital (TUH) , a 722-bed academic medical center located in Philadelphia, is expanding its use of Masimo technologies with...Read more
2021 15 Jun
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) was founded in 1970. At that time, there was little to offer for the acute management of patients suffering from an acute cerebrovascular condition other than supportive care. Patients suffering from stroke were rarely found in the intensive care unit. During the 1960s, 25% of stroke patients would die...Read more
2021 07 Mar
In 2010, Howard Brody, a medical ethicist and family physician, authored "Medicine's Ethical Responsibility for Healthcare Reform - The Top Five List". His list challenged medical societies to identify five interventions in healthcare that were overused, and that did not provide patient benefit. Following the same logic, the American Board of Internal...Read more
2021 27 Feb
To round up the first issue of ICU Management & Practice this year, experts from critical care will gather together and discuss the most important lessons learned in 2020 from a critical care perspective. You are invited to join us live on 9 March 2021, 16:00 CET. You might also like : 20 Lessons from 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic...Read more
2021 01 Feb
A study was conducted to evaluate opioid use in the ICU and identify factors associated with chronic opioid use after critical care. It also aimed to determine if chronic opioid use was associated with an increased risk of death. Over the last few years, opioid misuse has become a major public health issue in many countries. Pharmaceutical companies...Read more
2021 12 Jan
According to findings from a large study, COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU in the early months of the pandemic had a higher burden of delirium and coma than is typically found in patients with acute respiratory failure. The findings are published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Study investigators tracked the incidence of delirium and...Read more
2020 26 Oct
Tocilizumab is a humanised monoclonal antibody that binds human interleukin 6 (IL-6) receptors. It is generally used in inflammatory arthritis, giant cell arteritis and cytokine release syndrome after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. Tocilizumab has come under close scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic. Early observations from China...Read more
2020 11 Oct
The economic and clinical fragilities of healthcare systems around the globe have never been more visible than during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the importance of resource allocation has been at the forefront. Weighing safety against costs when dealing with critically ill patients has been a source of dilemma for many healthcare professionals. ...Read more
2020 14 Sep
The purpose of this article is to give an up-to-date, comprehensive review on the utilisation of extracorporeal blood purification techniques and immunostimulation in septic patients after cardiac surgery. Introduction Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening state caused by an infection and an inadequate, dysregulated host immune...Read more
2020 14 Sep
This article will focus on the non-clinical, human aspects of critical care, namely the patient and the ICU team. The modern concepts of humanising ICU care, the healing environment and future-proofing the ICU team will be discussed. Introduction Despite being a relatively young specialty, critical care has made remarkable progress...Read more