Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2013
Observational StudyAssociation between weight change and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients.
Body weight fluctuates daily throughout a patient's stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to a variety of factors, including fluid balance, nutritional status, type of acute illness, and presence of comorbidities. This study investigated the association between change in body weight and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients during short-term hospitalization in the ICU. ⋯ Increase in body weight of critically ill patients may be correlated with duration of mechanical ventilation use and longer stay of ICU hospitalization and be associated with ICU mortality.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2013
Complement C3 depletion links to the expansion of regulatory T cells and compromises T-cell immunity in human abdominal sepsis: A prospective pilot study.
Complement depletion commonly occurred in septic patients, but this problem was often underestimated during the treatment process. This study was designed to determine the association between complement depletion and T-cell immunosuppression. ⋯ Complement C3 depletion was found to be linked to the expansion of Tregs during abdominal sepsis. Such depletion and associated immunosuppression should be paid close attention in the critical care.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2013
A novel method of post-pyloric feeding tube placement at bedside.
Post-pyloric feeding tube placement is often difficult, and special equipment or peristalsis agents are used to aid insertion. Although several reports have described blind techniques for post-pyloric feeding-tube placement, no general consensus about method preference has been achieved. ⋯ With a novel technique, from the bedside, without special tools or drugs, we successfully placed post-pyloric feeding tubes. Essential points when inserting the tube are confirmation of the location of the tube tip by palpation of injected air, and to avoid deflection and looping.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2013
Sagittal abdominal diameter may effectively predict future complications and increased mortality in intensive care unit patients with severe sepsis.
To investigate whether increased visceral adipose tissue is a risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality in intensive care patients with severe sepsis. ⋯ An increased SAD may effectively predict future complications and increased mortality in intensive care unit patients with severe sepsis.
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Journal of critical care · Dec 2013
Real-time sample entropy predicts life-saving interventions after the Boston Marathon bombing.
Identifying patients in need of a life-saving intervention (LSI) during a mass casualty event is a priority. We hypothesized that real-time, instantaneous sample entropy (SampEn) could predict the need for LSI in the Boston Marathon bombing victims. ⋯ Sample entropy strongly correlates with injury severity and predicts LSI after blast injuries sustained in the Boston Marathon bombings. Sample entropy may be a useful triage tool after blast injury.