Medicina intensiva
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Practice Guideline
The use of ECMO in ICU. Recommendations of the Spanish Society of Critical Care Medicine and Coronary Units.
The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation systems has increased significantly in recent years; given this reality, the Spanish Society of Critical Intensive Care Medicine and Coronary Units (SEMICYUC) has decided to draw up a series of recommendations that serve as a framework for the use of this technique in intensive care units. The three most frequent areas of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation systems use in our setting are: as a cardiocirculatory support, as a respiratory support and for the maintenance of the abdominal organs in donors. ⋯ The recommendations, based on current knowledge, are about which patients may be candidates for the technique, when to start it and the necessary infrastructure conditions of the hospital centers or, the conditions for transfer to centers with experience. Although from a physiopathological point of view, there are clear arguments for the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation systems, the current scientific evidence is weak, so studies are needed that define more precisely which patients benefit most from the technique and when they should start.
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The series of updates on methodology for research in critically ill patients has addressed the difficulties caused by the characteristics of patients of this kind, bioethics, the interpretation of results, and methodological error. New statistical methods for causality research, meta-analysis and big data analysis have also been described. ⋯ We close the series with the hope of having provided a global vision of the statistical methods oriented toward the future, with the aim of promoting statistical culture. In parallel, we have analyzed the evolution in complexity of the methodological analysis in the journal.
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During health care, the patient is exposed to a wide variety of microorganisms. Maximum hygiene in all care activities is therefore essential in order to reduce the cross-transmission of preventable infectious diseases. ⋯ Adequate knowledge of the concepts and standards of use of antiseptics and disinfectants offers healthcare workers the essential tool needed to avoid the spread of infectious agents, while also establishing the scientific basis for their rational use. This article is part of a supplement entitled "Antisepsis in the critical patient", which is sponsored by Becton Dickinson.