Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Comparative Study
Changes in hospital costs after introducing an intermediate care unit: a comparative observational study.
The high cost of critical care resources has resulted in strategies to reduce the costs of ruling out low-risk patients by developing intermediate care units (IMCs). The aim of this study was to compare changes in total hospital costs for intensive care patients before and after the introduction of an IMC at the University Hospital Maastricht. ⋯ After the introduction of the IMC, the higher mean total hospital costs for patients with a high TISS score and longer ICU stay explained the cost increase.
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Pain is among the worst possible experiences for the critically ill. Therefore, nearly all intensive care patients receive some kind of pain relief, and opioids are most frequently administered. Morphine has a number of important adverse effects, including histamine release, pruritus, constipation, and, in particular, accumulation of morphine-6-glucuronide in patients with renal impairment. ⋯ This may permit both a significant reduction in weaning and extubation times, and clear differentiation between over-sedation and brain dysfunction. This article provides an overview of the use of short-acting opioids in the intensive care unit, with special emphasis on remifentanil. It summarizes the currently available study data regarding remifentanil and provides recommendations for clinical use of this agent.
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All original research contributions published in Critical Care in 2007 in the field of respirology and critical care medicine are summarized in this article. Fifteen papers were grouped in the following categories: acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome, mechanical ventilation, ventilator-induced lung injury, imaging, and other topics.
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Acute lung injury (ALI) is a major cause of acute respiratory failure with high mortality despite lung-protective ventilation. Prior work has shown disordered inflammation and coagulation in ALI, with strong correlations between biomarker abnormalities and worse clinical outcomes. We measured plasma markers of inflammation, coagulation and fibrinolysis simultaneously to assess whether these markers remain predictive in the era of lung-protective ventilation. ⋯ Despite lung-protective ventilation, abnormalities in plasma levels of markers of inflammation, coagulation and fibrinolysis predict mortality in ALI patients, indicating more severe activation of these biologic pathways in nonsurvivors.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Noninvasive mechanical ventilation may be useful in treating patients who fail weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation: a randomized clinical trial.
The use of noninvasive positive-pressure mechanical ventilation (NPPV) has been investigated in several acute respiratory failure situations. Questions remain about its benefits when used in weaning patients from invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of bi-level NPPV for patients who fail weaning from IMV. ⋯ The results suggest that NPPV is a good alternative for ventilation of patients who fail initial weaning attempts. NPPV reduces the incidence of pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation and the need for tracheotomy.