Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Multicenter StudyImpact of triage-to-admission time on patient outcome in European intensive care units: A prospective, multi-national study.
Ubiquitous bed shortages lead to delays in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions worldwide. Assessing the impact of delayed admission must account for illness severity. This study examined both the relationship between triage-to-admission time and 28-day mortality and the impact of controlling for Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II scores on that relationship. ⋯ Even after accounting for quantifiable parameters of illness severity, delayed admission did not negatively impact outcome. Triage practices likely influence outcomes. Severity scores may not fully reflect illness acuity or trajectory.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPerformance of plasma measurement of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a biomarker of bacterial infections in the intensive care unit.
To assess the value of dimeric neutrophil-gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) as an early marker of bacterial infection and its response to antibiotic therapy in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. ⋯ In our cohort of ICU patients, plasma dNGAL was associated with presence of bacterial infections independent of AKI but it performed poor as a predictor of infections. Following antibiotic therapy, dNGAL markedly decreased-supporting further exploration of dNGAL-guided antibiotic de-escalation.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Multicenter StudyEvaluation of the quality of the communication and emotional support during the donation procedure: The use of the donor family questionnaire (DFQ).
A multi-centric study in Intensive Care units (ICU) and Emergency departments (ED) was designed to evaluate whether the provided communication and emotional support to the family in the context of organ donation met the international recommendations of the European Donor Hospital Education Program (EDHEP). ⋯ The DFQ is a useful instrument to evaluate the donor procedure. The physician is important in the first phases of the donor procedure for the medical explanation. Other disciplines could be more involved in the following phases to assure enough emotional support, but this issue requires further exploration.
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Gender disparities in healthcare are striking, notwithstanding an increase in female students and physicians. Underrepresentation of women in leadership positions is well-documented; however, information from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is still sparse. The Argentinian Society of Intensive Care Medicine (SATI) aimed to characterize the gender composition in Argentine ICUs. ⋯ Our data provide evidence of an important gender gap in ICU management in a LMIC. Women were poorly represented in the leadership positions, although qualifications were similar to men. Moreover, female physicians worked more frequently in the public health subsector, usually underfinanced in LMICs-a surrogate of a gender pay gap.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Observational StudyDifferences in 90-day mortality of delirium subtypes in the intensive care unit: A retrospective cohort study.
Many intensive care unit (ICU) patients suffer from delirium which is associated with deleterious short-term and long-term effects, including mortality. We determined the association between different delirium subtypes and 90-day mortality. ⋯ After adjusting for covariates, including competing risk factors, only the mixed delirium subtype was significantly associated with 90-day mortality.