Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2016
Observational StudyIdentification of acute brain failure using electronic medical records.
Up to 80% of critically ill patients have acute neurologic dysfunction syndromes. We evaluated interrater reliability between the examination by the investigator and the charted assessment by the nurse because the accuracy and reliability of detailed data sets extracted from the electronic medical records represents a keystone for creating EMR-based definitions. ⋯ Neurologic assessments documented on the EMR are reliable.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2016
Nosocomial infections and resistance pattern of common bacterial isolates in an intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria: A 4-year review.
Infection is a major determinant of clinical outcome among patients in the intensive care unit. However, these data are lacking in most developing countries; hence, we set out to describe the profile of nosocomial infection in one of the major tertiary hospitals in northern Nigeria. ⋯ Infection control practice and measures to curtail the emergence of antimicrobial resistance need to be improved.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2016
Intracranial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure in patients developing brain death.
We investigated whether a critical rise of intracranial pressure (ICP) leading to a loss of cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) could serve as a surrogate marker of brain death (BD). ⋯ Brain death was universally preceded by a severe reduction of CPP, supporting loss of cerebral perfusion as a critical step in BD development. Our data show that a negative CPP is neither sufficient nor a prerequisite to diagnose BD. In BD cases with positive CPP, we speculate that arterial blood pressure dropped below a critical closing pressure, thereby causing cessation of cerebral blood flow.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2016
Pressure attenuation during high-frequency airway clearance therapy across different size endotracheal tubes: An in vitro study.
High-frequency airway clearance therapy is a positive pressure secretion clearance modality used in pediatric and adult applications. However, pressure attenuation across different size endotracheal tubes (ETT) has not been adequately described. This study quantifies attenuation in an in vitro model. ⋯ In an in vitro model, pressure attenuation was linearly related to the inner diameter of the endotracheal tube; with decreasing attenuation as the ETT size increased.