Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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With great interest we read the article by Dr Schoeneberg and colleagues regarding gender-specific differences with respect to outcome in patients with severe traumatic injury. The authors show that, apart from the acute phase after trauma, women have a more favorable trauma severity-adjusted outcome, with shorter ICU and hospital stay and lower sepsis rates. However, a possible mechanism of action behind this difference was not suggested. We hypothesize that, in view of the fact that morbidity and mortality in the post-acute phase after trauma are often caused by infectious complications, gender differences in immunity might explain the observed differences.
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Ventilator-induced lung injury and ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction are major complications in mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory failure. Invasive ventilation adds a further burden by increasing the risk of infections. ⋯ This approach seemed to be as effective but potentially more lung-protective. Although the experimental setup and results cannot be translated directly to the clinical setting, they should motivate us to further study this innovative approach.