Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Sep 2023
Multicenter Study Observational StudyEfficacy of Carbapenems Compared With Noncarbapenem Broad-Spectrum Beta-Lactam Antibiotics as Initial Antibiotic Therapy Against Sepsis: A Nationwide Observational Study.
As causative pathogens are not usually identified at the time of initiating antibiotics in sepsis, carbapenems are commonly used as an initial treatment. To reduce indiscriminate use of carbapenems, the efficacy of alternative empiric regimens, such as piperacillin-tazobactam and the fourth-generation cephalosporins, should be elucidated. This study aimed to evaluate survival effect associated with carbapenems as initial therapy for sepsis compared with these antibiotics. ⋯ Compared with the noncarbapenem broad-spectrum antibiotics, carbapenems as an initial therapy for sepsis were not associated with significantly lower mortality.
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Critical care medicine · Sep 2023
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyUnder-The-Nose Versus Over-The-Nose Face Mask to Prevent Facial Pressure Sores During Face Mask-Delivered Noninvasive Ventilation for Acute Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
To determine whether an under-the-nose face mask (FM) as the first-line interface strategy reduces the incidence of facial pressure sores with the same clinical improvement as the one obtained by standard over-the-nose face mask-noninvasive ventilation (FM-NIV) in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF). ⋯ In patients with AHRF, under-the-nose FM significantly reduced the incidence of facial pressure sores compared to the most commonly used first-line interface, the standard FM. However, with this new mask, excessive unintentional air leaks more often compelled the attending clinician to switch to another interface to pursue NIV.
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Critical care medicine · Sep 2023
Multicenter StudyAtrial Fibrillation (AFIB) in the ICU: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes: The International AFIB-ICU Cohort Study.
To assess the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the ICU and to describe current practice in the management of AF. ⋯ In ICU patients, AF occurred in one of six and was associated with different conditions. AF was associated with worse outcomes while not statistically significantly associated with 90-day mortality in the adjusted analyses. We observed variations in the diagnostic and management strategies for AF.