Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2017
Safety and feasibility of a neuromuscular electrical stimulation chronaxie-based protocol in critical ill patients: A prospective observational study.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) protocol based on neuromuscular excitability and applied in numerous muscle groups of critical ill patients. ⋯ We demonstrated that NMES chronaxie-based protocol is safe and feasible.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2017
Guillain-Barré syndrome in patients with a recent history of Zika in Cúcuta, Colombia: A descriptive case series of 19 patients from December 2015 to March 2016.
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is an emerging global threat and a public health problem in the Americas. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been recently associated to ZIKV. This report presents a case series of GBS possibly associated to ZIKV. ⋯ All cases of this GBS outbreak had a recent history ZIKV infection, reinforcing existing evidence for the association between GBS and ZIKV. Future genetic and immunologic studies are warranted to further investigate the cause of the outbreak in detail.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2017
Perspectives of physicians and nurses on identifying and treating psychological distress of the critically ill.
Survivors of critical illness are frequently unable to return to their premorbid level of psychocognitive functioning following discharge. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the burden of psychological trauma experienced by patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) as perceived by clinicians to assess factors that can impede its recognition and treatment in the ICU. ⋯ Both physicians and nurses acknowledge that they perceive that critically ill patients experience a high level of psychological stress that persists throughout their period of illness. Improved understanding of this phenomenon is needed to design effective therapeutic interventions. Although the lack of time is identified as significant barrier to ameliorating patient's psychological stress, the majority of clinicians indicate that they attempt to provide interventions to achieve this goal.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2017
Interhospital transfer of children in respiratory failure: a clinician interview qualitative study.
To investigate the decision making underlying transfer of children with respiratory failure from level II to level I pediatric intensive care unit care. ⋯ Interhospital transfer of children in respiratory failure is triggered by poor response to escalation of locally available care modalities. This finding provides new insight into decision making underlying interhospital transfer of children with respiratory failure.