Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2022
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe Use of IV Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (Aviptadil) in Patients With Critical COVID-19 Respiratory Failure: Results of a 60-Day Randomized Controlled Trial.
Respiratory failure is a lethal complication of COVID-19 that has remained resistant to drug therapy. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is shown in nonclinical studies to upregulate surfactant production, inhibit cytokine synthesis, prevent cytopathy, and block replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus in pulmonary cells. The study aims to determine whether Aviptadil (synthetic VIP) can improve survival and recovery in patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure compared with placebo and demonstrate biological effects in such patients. ⋯ The primary end point did not reach statistical significance, indicating that there was no difference between Aviptadil versus placebo. However, Aviptadil improves the likelihood of survival from respiratory failure at day 60 in critical COVID-19 across all sites of care. Given the absence of drug-related serious adverse events and acceptable safety profile, we believe the benefit versus risk for the use of Aviptadil is favorable for patient treatment.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2022
Meta AnalysisDo Interventions Improve Symptoms Among ICU Surrogates Facing End-of-Life Decisions? A Prognostically-Enriched Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Evaluate the efficacy of interventions to improve symptoms for ICU surrogates at highest risk of developing psychologic distress: those facing end-of-life care decisions. ⋯ Communication and psychological support interventions in the ICU yielded small but significant improvement in psychological symptoms with moderate to very low certainty evidence in a prognostically-enriched sample of ICU surrogates facing end-of-life care decisions. A new approach to interventions that extend beyond the ICU may be needed.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2022
ReviewUsing Qualitative Synthesis to Explore Heterogeneity of Randomized Trials on ICU Diaries.
We aimed to identify which set of components differentiates the ICU diaries that were effective in reducing psychologic symptoms after critical illness. ⋯ For patients under MV for at least 3 days, the ICU diaries that were effective in preventing psychiatric symptoms after critical illness were written by the ICU staff, delivered after hospital discharge, and read with a healthcare professional in order to better understand the diary and the ICU stay. For family members, the presence of photographs was the only characteristic identified a successful ICU diary.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2022
Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Neuromuscular Function of Mechanically Ventilated ICU COVID-19 Patients.
The aim of the current study was to investigate the level of cardiorespiratory fitness and neuromuscular function of ICU survivors after COVID-19 and to examine whether these outcomes are related to ICU stay/mechanical ventilation duration. ⋯ V o2 max was on average only slightly above the 18 mL·min -1 ·kg -1 , that is, the cut-off value known to induce difficulty in performing daily tasks. Overall, although low physical capacities at admission in ICU COVID-19 patients cannot be ruled out to explain the association between V o2 max or neuromuscular function and ICU stay/MV duration, altered cardiorespiratory fitness and neuromuscular function observed in the present study may not be specific to COVID-19 disease but seem applicable to all ICU/MV patients of similar duration.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2022
A Multiple Baseline Trial of an Electronic ICU Discharge Summary Tool for Improving Quality of Care.
Effective communication between clinicians is essential for seamless discharge of patients between care settings. Yet, discharge summaries are commonly not available and incomplete. We implemented and evaluated a structured electronic health record-embedded electronic discharge (eDischarge) summary tool for patients discharged from the ICU to a hospital ward. ⋯ Implementation of an electronic tool was associated with more timely and complete discharge summaries for patients discharged from the ICU to a hospital ward.