Current opinion in critical care
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Curr Opin Crit Care · Aug 2023
ReviewVitamin C in critical illness: end of the story or still a place?
Critical illness is associated with decreased micronutrient levels, including vitamin C, an essential antioxidant for systemic inflammation. This review discusses the most recent evidence of high-dose vitamin C monotherapy in critically ill adults. ⋯ The use of high-dose intravenous vitamin C cannot be recommended for the septic critically ill in clinical practice since the LOVIT trial. Further research is needed to evaluate its potential role in other critically ill patients.
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Curr Opin Crit Care · Aug 2023
ReviewNutrition therapy during noninvasive ventilation: oral or enteral?
Critical care nutrition guidelines primarily focus on patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation, yet noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is an increasingly common intervention. The optimal route of nutrition delivery in patients receiving NIV has not been established. This review aims to describe the implications of NIV on the route of feeding prescribed. ⋯ Until evidence to support the optimal route of feeding is developed, patient safety should be the key driver of route selection, followed by the ability to achieve nutrition targets, perhaps utilizing a combination of routes to overcome barriers to nutrition delivery.
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Gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction is common among critically ill patients and is associated with poor outcomes. In particular, nutrient delivery can be impaired in patients with GI dysfunction and pose a significant challenge to clinicians in daily clinical practice. This review aims to summarize the impact of GI dysfunction on nutrition therapy during critical illness and provide an update on recent advances in nutritional strategies during gastrointestinal dysfunction. ⋯ GI dysfunction frequently occurs during critical illness and negatively affects nutrition therapy. Strategies to improve nutrient delivery during GI dysfunction are available, though more research into the diagnosis and pathophysiology of GI dysfunction will likely further improve patient outcomes.
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Curr Opin Crit Care · Aug 2023
Review Meta AnalysisLipid emulsions in parenteral nutrition: does it matter?
Recently, clinicians have shown interest in switching patients to nonsoybean-based intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) formulas for parental nutrition (PN) due to adverse outcomes related to high Omega-6 content in soybean oil (SO) ILE's. This review summarizes recent literature on improved clinical outcomes with new Omega-6 lipid-sparing ILE's in PN management. ⋯ More research is needed to directly compare omega-6-sparing PN formulas with FO and/or OO versus traditional SO ILE's. However, current evidence is promising for improved outcomes using newer ILE's including reduced infections, shorter lengths of stay, and reduced costs.
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Curr Opin Crit Care · Aug 2023
ReviewCardiogenic shock: a major challenge for the clinical trialist.
Cardiogenic shock (CS) results in persistently high short-term mortality and a lack of evidence-based therapies. Several trials of novel interventions have failed to show an improvement in clinical outcomes despite promising preclinical and physiologic principles. In this review, we highlight the challenges of CS trials and provide suggestions for the optimization and harmonization of their design. ⋯ Accurate characterization of CS severity and its pathophysiology are crucial to unravel heterogeneity and identify the patients most likely to benefit from a tested treatment. Implementation of biomarker-stratified adaptive clinical trial designs (i.e., biomarker or subphenotype-based therapy) might provide important insights into treatment effects.