Journal of intensive care medicine
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Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder encountered in neurosurgical patients. The aggressive treatment of hyponatremia in this group is critical, as hyponatremia can lead to mental status changes, seizures, vasospasm, cerebral edema, and even death. When it occurs, it represents a failure of one of several homeostatic mechanisms that tightly regulate serum sodium. ⋯ Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone is characterized by a volume-expanded state, whereas CSW is characterized by a volume-contracted state. Determining the exact cause remains a clinical imperative as the treatment for each is different. The rate at which serum sodium is corrected must be attended to, as rapid shifts in serum sodium pose potential risk of cerebral pontine myelinolysis.
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J Intensive Care Med · May 2012
Clinical course of ICU patients with severe pandemic 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pneumonia: single center experience with proning and pressure release ventilation.
A number of different modalities have been employed in addition to conventional ventilation to improve oxygenation in patients with severe 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) pneumonia. Outcomes with ventilatory and rescue therapies for H1N1 influenza-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been varied. A single intensive care unit (ICU) experience with management of laboratory-confirmed 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) ARDS with a combination of proning and airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) is described. ⋯ Proning in combination with APRV provides improvement of hypoxemia with limitation of end-organ dysfunction and thereby facilitates recovery from severe 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1).
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J Intensive Care Med · May 2012
ReviewNorepinephrine or dopamine for septic shock: systematic review of randomized clinical trials.
There is debate as to the vasopressor agent of choice in patients with septic shock. According to current guidelines either dopamine or norepinephrine may be considered as the first-line agent for the management of refractory hypotension of septic shock. ⋯ The analysis of the pooled studies that included a critically ill population with shock predominantly secondary to sepsis showed superiority of norepinephrine over dopamine for in-hospital or 28-day mortality.
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J Intensive Care Med · May 2012
ReviewUnderstanding intra-abdominal hypertension: from the bench to the bedside.
Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) are highly morbid conditions that are common and underrecognized in the intensive care unit. Intra-abdominal hypertension affects the critically ill patient population and is not solely limited to the trauma and surgical subgroups. ⋯ Although further research into this morbid condition is needed, improvement in recognition is a critical first step. This review aims to scrutinize the basic science and clinical literature available on this condition in a surgically focused, organ-system-based approach.
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J Intensive Care Med · May 2012
Role of C-reactive protein velocity in the diagnosis of early bacterial infections in children after cardiac surgery.
Fever after cardiac surgery in children may be due to bacterial infection or noninfectious origin like systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) secondary to bypass procedure. A marker to distinguish bacterial from nonbacterial fever in these conditions is clinically important. The purpose of our study was to evaluate, in the early postcardiac surgery period, whether serial measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) and its change over time (CRP velocity) can assist in detecting bacterial infection. ⋯ Mean CRP velocity ([fCRP - 18hCRP]/[fever time (days) - 0.75 day]) was significantly higher in the infectious group (4.0 ± 4.2 mg/dL per d) than in the fever-only group (0.60 ± 1.6 mg/dL per d; P < .001). A CRP velocity of 4 mg/dL per d had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 85.7% for bacterial infection with 95.2% specificity. Serial measurements of CRP/CRP velocity after cardiac surgery in children may assist clinicians in differentiating postoperative fever due to bacterial infection from fever due to noninfectious origin.