Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Editorial Comment
Respiratory variation in inferior vena cava diameter: surrogate of central venous pressure or parameter of fluid responsiveness? Let the physiology reply.
In the previous issue of Critical Care, Muller and colleagues investigated whether respiratory variation in inferior vena cava diameter (ΔIVC) could be a useful predictor of fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing patients. The study concludes that accuracy was not very good and therefore that this parameter should be used with caution in these patients. There is still confusion about the meaning of IVC respiratory variations, whether the patient is spontaneously breathing or mechanically ventilated. In this brief commentary, we try to summarize as clearly as possible the significance of IVC variation in different clinical settings.
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Review Meta Analysis
Accuracy of plasma sTREM-1 for sepsis diagnosis in systemic inflammatory patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Early diagnosis of sepsis is vital to the clinical course and outcome of septic patients. Recently, soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) appears to be a potential marker of infection. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the accuracy of plasma sTREM-1 for sepsis diagnosis in systemic inflammatory patients. ⋯ The present meta-analysis showed that plasma sTREM-1 had a moderate diagnostic performance in differentiating sepsis from SIRS. Accordingly, plasma sTREM-1 as a single marker was not sufficient for sepsis diagnosis in systemic inflammatory patients.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Observational Study
Higher vs. lower fluid volume for septic shock: clinical characteristics and outcome in unselected patients in a prospective, multicenter cohort.
Patients with septic shock require fluid, but the optimum amount is unknown. Therefore we assessed patient characteristics and outcome associated with fluid volume in unselected patients with septic shock including those with three days of shock. ⋯ In this cohort of unselected ICU patients with septic shock, initial fluid volume was not associated with mortality. In patients with shock for three days or more, higher fluid volumes including crystalloids, colloids and blood products were associated with reduced mortality.
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Manual hyperinflation (MH), a frequently applied maneuver in critically ill intubated and mechanically ventilated patients, is suggested to mimic a cough so that airway secretions are mobilized toward the larger airways, where they can easily be removed. As such, MH could prevent plugging of the airways. ⋯ Studies have failed to show that MH benefits critically ill intubated and mechanically ventilated patients. MH is infrequently associated with short-term side effects.