The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Aug 2017
The Impact of Hemodynamic Transesophageal Echocardiography on the Use of Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy in Trauma.
Post-traumatic fluid management is a widely debated topic. No best-practice consensus exists. Adverse outcomes such as acute kidney injury or volume overload are common. ⋯ Mean days on CRRT was eight before hTEE and seven after hTEE (P value 0.7); 23 patients required CRRT pre-hTEE, and 15 required CRRT post-hTEE (P value 0.01 O. R. 2.4). Given, the odds of CRRT pre-hTEE are more than twice that of CRRT post-hTEE; we conclude that the use of hTEE is associated with a reduction of CRRT.
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The American surgeon · Aug 2017
Inpatient Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheter Complications: Should Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Lines Be Placed in the Intensive Care Unit Setting?
Peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) are now commonly used for central access in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting; however, there is a paucity of data evaluating the complication rates associated with these lines. We performed a retrospective review of all PICCs placed in the inpatient setting at our institution during a 1-year period from January 2013 to December 2013. These were divided into two groups: those placed at the bedside in the ICU and those placed by interventional radiology in non-ICU patients. ⋯ The thrombotic complication rate was 5.88 per cent in the non-ICU group and 7.60 per cent in the ICU group (P = 0.38), whereas the central line associated blood stream infection rate was 0.29 per cent in the non-ICU group and 2.92 per cent in the ICU group (P = 0.002). This study seems to suggest that PICC lines placed at the bedside in the ICU setting are associated with higher complication rates, in particular infectious complications, than those placed by interventional radiology in non-ICU patients. The routine placement of PICC lines in the ICU settings needs to be reevaluated given these findings.
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The American surgeon · Aug 2017
Clinical Characteristics of Trauma Patients Requiring Hydrocortisone Treatment for Refractory Hypotension.
Corticosteroids play an important role in responding to physiologic stress in the human body. However, its application in critical care remains heavily debated. The purpose of this study was to identify patient characteristics associated with receiving stress-dose steroids during the intensive care unit stay after traumatic injury and its effect on in-hospital mortality. ⋯ Patient characteristics associated with increased likelihood of receiving stress-dose steroids during admission were age >65, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, burn injuries, Injury Severity Score >15, lower blood pressure (141/80 vs 125/76 mm Hg), and higher heart rate (87 vs 94/min). Patients who received stress-dose steroids were found to have increased mortality but not after controlling for the aforementioned patient factors associated with increased likelihood of receiving stress-dose steroids. The use of stress-dose steroids in critically ill patients with refractory hypotension does not appear to affect in-hospital mortality.