Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1996
Review Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialEffects of availability of patient-related charges on practice patterns and cost containment in the pediatric intensive care unit.
To investigate the effects of the availability of daily patient-related charges to healthcare providers on practice patterns and cost containment in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) setting. ⋯ The availability of patient-related charges to healthcare providers can result in changes in practice patterns, producing a decrease of patient charges and an improvement in cost containment in the pediatric ICU.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1996
ReviewIs it time to reposition vasopressors and inotropes in sepsis?
To review the literature on the current use of vasopressors and inotropes in patients with sepsis and sepsis syndrome with respect to the choice of agent, therapeutic end points, and safe and effective doses to be used. To examine the available evidence that supports or refutes goal-directed therapy toward supranormal oxygen transport in optimizing the outcome of critically ill sepsis syndrome patients. ⋯ Insufficient evidence exists to support goal-directed therapy with vasopressors and inotropes in the treatment of sepsis syndrome. No definitive recommendations can be made about the superiority of a vasopressor or inotropic agent due to the lack of data. However, it may be that evaluation of vasopressors earlier in sepsis syndrome will yield more promising results. Large, comparative, controlled trials assessing mortality rate and development of multiple organ system dysfunction are needed.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1996
Iced temperature injectate for thermodilution cardiac output determination causes minimal effects on cardiodynamics.
Controversy exists regarding the ideal injectate temperature for measuring cardiac output. Iced temperature injectate gives a higher signal/noise ratio and less variability in the measured cardiac output. Thus, less volume and fewer measurements are required. Advocates of room temperature injectate have suggested that iced temperature injectate may perturb cardiodynamics. This concern has remained largely untested. To help resolve this controversy, we examined the effects of 5 mL iced injectate (0 degrees to 4 degrees) infusions on cardiodynamics. ⋯ Iced temperature injectate used in clinically relevant volumes causes transient negative chronotropic effects, but reservations regarding other perturbations of cardiodynamics are unfounded. Thus, the use of iced temperature injectate for cardiac output determination is still a viable alternative to room temperature injectate use, especially when a larger signal/noise ratio is required.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1996
Chest vibration redistributes intra-airway CO2 during tracheal insufflation in ventilatory failure.
To determine if high-frequency external chest wall vibration added to low flow intratracheal fresh gas insufflation alters the intra-airway CO2 distribution and the resistance to CO2 transport from the lungs. ⋯ Global gas exchange improves during ventilation by chest wall vibration with low flow insufflation. Local gas exchange in the central airways is also improved due to increased intraluminal mixing and CO2 elimination. This ventilation technique may confer therapeutic advantages over conventional mechanical ventilation in the treatment of ventilatory failure.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 1996
Review Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialTherapy of alcohol withdrawal syndrome in intensive care unit patients following trauma: results of a prospective, randomized trial.
To assess the effect of three different alcohol withdrawal therapy regimens in traumatized chronic alcoholic patients with respect to the duration of mechanical ventilation and the frequency of pneumonia and cardiac disorders during their intensive care unit (ICU) stay. ⋯ There was some advantage in the flunitrazepam/clonidine regimen with respect to pneumonia and the necessity for mechanical ventilation. However, four (7%) patients had to be excluded from the study due to ongoing hallucinations during therapy. Also, cardiac complications were increased in this group. Thus, flunitrazepam/haloperidol should be preferred in patients with cardiac or pulmonary risk. Further studies are required to determine which therapy should be considered.