Search Tag: critically ill patients
2024 17 Jul
A review article by researchers from Uppsala University and the University of Gothenburg, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, underscores that up to half of hospitalised patients and those in healthcare facilities suffer from malnutrition. This has significant implications, including unnecessary suffering, decreased quality of life,...Read more
2024 09 Jul
Approximately 500,000 Americans die annually following admission to an ICU, often lacking decision-making capacity due to advanced illness or medications. Clinicians rely on surrogate decision-makers for care decisions, but communication breakdowns are common, making the process emotionally difficult for surrogates. This often leads to patients...Read more
2024 30 May
In acute critical illness, catabolism leads to muscle wasting, weakness, and difficulty in weaning from ventilation. Low intake of protein, energy, and micronutrients can worsen catabolism, leading to infections, delayed recovery, and increased mortality. Traditionally, it was believed that nutrition could counteract catabolism and improve outcomes....Read more
2024 17 May
Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Among patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), severe untreated pain is associated with an increase in mortality, length of hospital stays and worsening in everyday quality of life after hospital discharge. Pain in critically ill patients is more difficult to monitor...Read more
2024 25 Apr
The treatment of critically ill and perioperative patients often involves targeting blood pressure as a cornerstone of haemodynamic management. Current guidelines suggest maintaining high blood pressure targets for these patients based on observational studies linking hypotensive events to adverse outcomes. However, these recommendations are not based...Read more
2024 12 Mar
Haemoadsorption may represent the new frontier in extracorporeal blood purification. Haemoadsorption has demonstrated effective extraction of a variety of toxins and drugs during episodes of sepsis, acute kidney injury or intoxication. Selective haemoadsorption can be performed by endotoxin-binding polymyxin B functionalised polystyrene fibres....Read more
2023 30 Nov
In the ICU, providing better care with less is the holy grail. This mnemonic tries to resume a list of the key interventions for human, evidence-based and patient-centred care. Background In 2005, Prof Jean-Louis Vincent introduced the mnemonic "FAST HUG," advocating for a comprehensive approach to patient care encompassing seven...Read more
2023 26 May
While intravenous fluids have traditionally been a routine treatment for most critically ill patients, many severe pathologies now suggest a preference for conservative fluid therapy over liberal fluid administration. Introduction Intravenous fluid resuscitation began in 1832 during the cholera pandemic, improving intravascular volume...Read more
2023 06 Feb
The international critical care nutrition guidelines recommend a wide range of protein doses that are based on low-quality evidence. The impact of high-dose protein in critically ill patients is unknown. A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that a higher dose of protein improves clinical outcomes in critically ill patients. This was an...Read more
2022 14 Oct
Infections occur frequently in critically ill patients in the ICU. They may be the reason for admission and could also be due to immunosuppression associated with critical illness. Antibiotics are essential tools for treating both common and complex infections. It is recommended that antibiotics should be administered as soon as possible once an infection...Read more
2022 14 Oct
An overview of the clinical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of landiolol for the treatment of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter with heart failure and effective heart rate control during arrhythmias. Supraventricular arrhythmias (SVTs) are common in post-operative and cardiac ICUs. SVTs increase the risk of death...Read more
2022 25 Aug
ICU patients are often too ill to make decisions for themselves and need family members or surrogates to make medical decisions on their behalf. Surrogates may have to use substituted judgment when the critically ill patient has left no advanced directives. In such a situation, the surrogate may have to make decisions by considering what the patient...Read more
2022 25 Jul
Sleep in adult patients in the ICU is severely disturbed and typically short, light and fragmented. In addition, interventions in the ICU such as sedation, ventilation and illness can alter sleep characteristics. Some of the most common causes of sleep disruption include environmental factors such as noise and light; physiologic factors, such as pain,...Read more
2022 09 Jun
Find Nova Biomedical On Social Media Webinar Dates: Thursday, June 9th, 2:00 PM ET Thursday, June 23rd, 2:00 PM ET Read more
2022 25 May
A Practical Approach for Intensivists A practical approach to analgesia, sedation and neuromuscular blockade of critically ill patients and a discussion on potential benefits, adverse effects and current professional international recommendations. Introduction Patients hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are naturally prone to...Read more
2022 28 Apr
Speakers Thomas Metkus, MD Divisions of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Departments of Medicine and Surgery Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Dennis Begos, MD, FACS, FACRS Medical Director, Medical and Scientific Affairs...Read more
2022 21 Mar
The number of elderly and multimorbid patients admitted to the ICU continues to increase. These patients are at a high risk of dying and are likely to suffer from poor long-term outcomes such as functional and cognitive impairment, psychological distress and 6-month mortality. In addition, these patients have complex palliative care needs and could...Read more
2022 17 Feb
Adverse events (AEs) are common among critically ill patients. Evidence about the nature, preventability and predictability of AEs can be used to reinvest in efforts to reduce them and improve patient safety in ICUs. Case Mr. A, a previously well 70-year-old male was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with respiratory...Read more
2022 17 Feb
Speakers Rolando Claure-Del Granado, MD, FASN Director, AKI/CRRT Program Hospital Obrero, Cochabamba, Bolivia Dennis Begos, MD, FACS, FACRS Medical Director, Medical and Scientific Affairs Nova Biomedical Read more
2021 23 Nov
The complexity of glucose testing, the limitations of point-of-care blood glucose monitoring systems and the need for accuracy and reliability to ensure optimised patient outcomes. C ritically ill patients are not found just in intensive care units, but throughout the hospital: emergency departments, post-anaesthesia care units,...Read more
2021 28 Oct
Speakers Francesca Di Mario, MD Internal Medicine and Nephrology Department Parma University Medical School, Parma, Italy Germano Ferrari PhD, MBA EU Director, Medical & Scientific Affairs (MASA) Nova Biomedical Read more
2021 30 Sep
What We Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic That Should Not Be Forgotten An overview of the available evidence on safe intubation practices in critically ill patients in light of new discoveries due to the coronavirus pandemic. Introduction Orotracheal intubation is a life-saving procedure in critically ill patients with acute...Read more
2021 24 Aug
Among 1,841 very old ICU patients with respiratory failure, although women had higher age and frailty, males had higher 30-day mortality assessed one month after ICU admission. Particularly in light of the ongoing pandemic, male patients appear to be at significantly higher risk for worse outcomes than females. Introduction Demographic...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
2020 14 Sep
An overview of real-time digital assessment of microcirculation and quantification of tissue perfusion and the physiological and technical considerations that may, in the near future, change the way we look at circulatory shock in critically ill patients. The Challenges of Detecting Circulatory Shock Despite recent advances in the...Read more