Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2012
Comparative StudyComparison of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rates between different ICUs: Implications of a zero VAP rate.
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Measures to reduce the incidence of VAP have resulted in institutions reporting a zero or near-zero VAP rates. The implications of zero VAP rates are unclear. This study was done to compare outcomes between two intensive care units (ICU) with one of them reporting a zero VAP rate. ⋯ During comparisons of VAP rate between institutions, a zero VAP rate needs to be considered in the context of overall ventilator days, mean durations of ventilator stay and ICU mortality.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2012
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyCritical care in Colombia: differences between teaching and nonteaching intensive care units. A prospective cohort observational study.
The aim of this study was to determine the differences in the efficacy and efficiency in providing critical care to hospitalized patients in teaching vs nonteaching intensive care units (ICUs) in Colombia. ⋯ Nonteaching ICUs discharge patients earlier than do teaching ICUs, but the effect of it remains to be clarified with further studies addressing questions as what happens after ICU discharge.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2012
Short-term prognosis of critically ill surgical patients: the impact of duration of invasive organ support therapies.
We wanted to identify the importance of the duration of invasive ventilation and of renal replacement therapy for short-term prognosis of surgical patients treated in an intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ Prolonged duration of invasive ventilation but not of renal replacement therapy is inversely related to short-term survival.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2012
Cardiac manifestations in patients with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infection needing intensive care.
To characterize the cardiac manifestations in severe pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus [P(H1N1)2009v] infection. ⋯ In our cohort of severe P(H1N1)2009v infection, myocardial injury and dysfunction was frequent and associated with high mortality.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2012
Manual compression of the abdomen to assess expiratory flow limitation during mechanical ventilation.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the manual compression of the abdomen (MCA) during expiration as a simple bedside method to detect expiratory flow limitation (EFL) during daily clinical practice of mechanical ventilation (MV). ⋯ Manual compression of the abdomen provides a simple, rapid, and safe bedside reliable maneuver to detect and quantify EFL during mechanical ventilation.