Medicina intensiva
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To identify knowledge, skills and attitudes among physicians and nurses of adults' intensive care units (ICUs), referred to advance directives or living wills. ⋯ Although health professionals displayed poor knowledge of advance directives, they had a favorable attitude toward their usefulness. However, most did not know whether their patients had a living will, and some professionals even failed to respect such instructions despite knowledge of the existence of advance directives. Improvements in health professional education in this field are needed.
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The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is currently one of the most important critical entities given its high incidence, rate of mortality, long-term sequelae and non-specific pharmacological treatment. The histological hallmark of ARDS is diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). Approximately 50% of ARDS patients present DAD, the rest is made up of a heterogeneous group of histological patterns, many of which correspond to a well-recognized disease. ⋯ Recently, the effect of DAD in clinical and analytical evolution of ARDS has been demonstrated, so the classical approach to ARDS as an entity defined solely by clinical, radiological and gasometrical variables should be reconsidered. This narrative review aims to examine the need to evolve from the concept of ARDS as a syndrome to ARDS as a specific disease. So we have raised 4 critical questions: a) What is a disease?; b) what is DAD?; c) how is DAD considered according to ARDS definition?, and d) what is the relationship between ARDS and DAD?
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Severe burn patients are one subset of critically patients in which the burn injury increases the risk of infection, systemic inflammatory response and sepsis. The infections are usually related to devices and to the burn wound. Most infections, as in other critically ill patients, are preceded by colonization of the digestive tract and the preventative measures include selective digestive decontamination and hygienic measures. ⋯ Severe burn injury induces physiological response that significantly alters drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. These alterations impact antimicrobials distribution and excretion. Nevertheless the current available literature shows that there is a paucity of information to support routine dose recommendations.
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Due to the increase in isolation of Candida spp. in critically ill patients, and the high mortality and economic costs which this infection entails, a study was made of the risk factors associated to candidemia in critically ill patients from 7 intensive care units in Colombia. ⋯ In Colombia, a long hospital stay, abdominal surgery, the use of meropenem and hemodialysis were identified as risk factors for candidemia.