Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Metabolic alkalosis is common in patients with respiratory failure and may delay weaning in mechanically ventilated patients. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors block renal bicarbonate reabsorption, and thus reverse metabolic alkalosis. The objective of this systematic review is to assess the benefits and harms of carbonic anhydrase inhibitor therapy in patients with respiratory failure and metabolic alkalosis. ⋯ In patients with respiratory failure and metabolic alkalosis, carbonic anhydrase inhibitor therapy may have favorable effects on blood gas parameters. In mechanically ventilated patients, carbonic anhydrase inhibitor therapy may decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation. A major limitation of this finding was that only two trials assessed this clinically important outcome.
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The combination of thiamine, ascorbic acid, and hydrocortisone has recently emerged as a potential adjunctive therapy to antibiotics, infectious source control, and supportive care for patients with sepsis and septic shock. In the present manuscript, we provide a comprehensive review of the pathophysiologic basis and supporting research for each element of the thiamine, ascorbic acid, and hydrocortisone drug combination in sepsis. In addition, we describe potential areas of synergy between these therapies and discuss the strengths/weaknesses of the two studies to date which have evaluated the drug combination in patients with severe infection. Finally, we describe the current state of current clinical practice as it relates to the thiamine, ascorbic acid, and hydrocortisone combination and present an overview of the randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center Ascorbic acid, Corticosteroids, and Thiamine in Sepsis (ACTS) trial and other planned/ongoing randomized clinical trials.
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Review
Vitamin D deficiency and supplementation in critical illness-the known knowns and known unknowns.
The burgeoning literature on vitamin D deficiency and supplementation over the past decade or so has generated a greater understanding of some areas but also an appreciation of the many areas of equipoise. This is particularly relevant in the field of critical care with the heterogeneous patient populations, the severity and duration of illness and the frequency of comorbid conditions. This review aims to summarise the current knowledge base of vitamin D deficiency within the context of critical illness-"the known knowns"-and also highlight the areas of recognised uncertainty-"the known unknowns". It acknowledges the fact that there may well be other knowledge gaps of clinical relevance of which we are currently unaware-"the unknown unknowns".
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Critical illness results in millions of deaths each year. Care for those with critical illness is often neglected due to a lack of prioritisation, co-ordination, and coverage of timely identification and basic life-saving treatments. ⋯ Essential emergency and critical care should be part of universal health coverage, is appropriate for all countries in the world, and is intended for patients irrespective of age, gender, underlying diagnosis, medical specialty, or location in the hospital. Essential emergency and critical care is pragmatic and low-cost and has the potential to improve care and substantially reduce preventable mortality.