Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Assessment of need for lower level acuity critical care services at a tertiary acute care hospital in Canada: A prospective cohort study.
Critical care beds are commonly described in three levels (highest level 3, lowest level 1). We aimed to describe the actual level of care for patients assigned to level 2 in a tertiary hospital with inadequate level 1 bed capacity. ⋯ In a single centre, 14.9% of level 2 patients could have been cared for in a lower acuity bed for the entirety of their ICU stay. We believe this methodology is reproducible and can help resource allocation with regard to the high demand for critical care beds.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
The paradox prevails: Outcomes are better in critically ill obese patients regardless of the comorbidity burden.
During critical illness, obese patients have better outcomes compared to patients with normal BMI, and this is known as the obesity paradox. The difference in comorbidity burden have been implied to be responsible for the paradox. We performed a retrospective review from 2001 to 2012 of critically ill patients from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database. ⋯ The odds of inpatient mortality were lower in obese patients compared to patients with normal BMI; in group with the least comorbidity score (Elixhauser <0) [OR: 0.47, CI (0.28-0.80), p-value 0.006] and higher comorbidity scores, (Elixhauser 1-5) [(OR: 0.66, CI (0.46-0.95), p-value 0.02)] and (Elixhauser 6-13) [OR: 0.69, CI (0.53-0.92), p-value 0.01]. 30-day mortality was also significantly lower in obese patients, in groups with the lowest (Elixhauser <0) [OR:49, CI (0.31-0.77), p-value 0.002] as well as the highest comorbidity burden (Elixhauser >14) [OR:0.59, CI (0.45-0.77), p-value <.001]. Subgroup analysis in patients with various comorbidities showed better outcomes in obese patients. These findings show that the decreased odds of mortality in critically ill obese patients is independent of the comorbidity burden or type of comorbidity.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Comparative StudyValidation the performance of New York Sepsis Severity Score compared with Sepsis Severity Score in predicting hospital mortality among sepsis patients.
The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the New York Sepsis Severity Score (NYSSS) with the Sepsis Severity Score (SSS) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation and Simplified Acute Physiology Scores for predicting mortality in sepsis patients. ⋯ The SSS had better discrimination and overall performance than the NYSSS. However, both sepsis severity scores were poorly calibrated.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Observational StudyOutcomes of emergency laparotomy in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe respiratory failure: A retrospective, observational cohort study.
There is a paucity of literature to support undertaking emergency laparotomy when indicated in patients supported on ECMO. Our study aims to identify the prevalence, outcomes and complications of this high risk surgery at a large ECMO centre. ⋯ Survival to hospital discharge is possible following emergency laparotomy on ECMO, however the mortality is higher than for those patients not requiring laparotomy, this likely reflects the severity of underlying organ failure rather than the surgery itself. Our service's collocation with a general surgical service has made this development in care possible. ECMO service planning should consider general surgical provision.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2019
Technology-mediated macrocognition: Investigating how physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists make critical decisions.
Although intensive care clinicians are expected to make data-driven critical decisions using the technologies available to them, the effect of those technologies on decision-making are not well understood. Using the macrocognitive framework, we studied critical decision-making and technology use to understand how different specialists within teams make decisions and guide the development of decision-making support technologies. ⋯ This exploratory study provides much needed details about the different ways in which specialists use technologies to support decision-making tasks, particularly those involving sensemaking, which are essential to the design and development of decision-support technologies.