Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 2000
ReviewVentilator associated pneumonia: perspectives on the burden of illness.
The objective of this narrative review is to summarize selected current concepts and clinical evidence regarding the burden of illness of VAP, including its epidemiology, diagnosis, attributable mortality and risk factors. ⋯ Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a major morbid outcome among critically ill patients. Studies evaluating more effective prevention and treatment strategies are needed.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 2000
Editorial Comment ReviewARDS and PV curves: the inseparable duet?
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 2000
The diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia using non-bronchoscopic, non-directed lung lavages.
(1)To assess the diagnostic utility of quantitative cultures of non-bronchoscopic lung lavage (NBL) in ventilator-associated pneumonia and evaluate the role of the Bacterial Index; (2) To assess the predictive value of NBL surveillance quantitative cultures in ventilated patients; (3) To evaluate the Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS) system in ventilated patients. ⋯ NBL is a simple, safe, cheap, readily-available method of diagnosing ventilator-associated pneumonia with comparable diagnostic accuracy to bronchoscopic techniques. Quantitation of respiratory tract cultures can exclude pneumonia in patients with equivocal clinical signs. The diagnostic threshold should vary depending on the length of ventilation, likelihood of pneumonia and antibiotic administration. The Bacterial Index is a flawed mathematical device that has no contributory role in pneumonia diagnosis. The CPIS has some diagnostic role in selected cohorts of ventilated patients.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 2000
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialCation metabolism during propofol sedation with and without EDTA in patients with impaired renal function.
To compare the effects of propofol with and without disodium edetate (EDTA) on cation metabolism in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with renal insufficiency who received propofol or propofol plus EDTA (propofol EDTA) for sedation and mechanical ventilation. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that adding EDTA to propofol does not adversely affect cation homeostasis or renal function when used for sedation of ICU patients with renal insufficiency. Although EDTA levels increased over time from baseline levels in patients with renal insufficiency who receive propofol EDTA, this increase does not appear to be clinically significant, and EDTA levels return to below baseline levels within 48 hours of discontinuing the propofol EDTA infusion. The efficacy of propofol with and without EDTA also appears comparable in these patients.