Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) and selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD) reduce colonization with antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (ARGNB), incidence of nosocomial infections and improve survival in ICU patients. The effect on bacterial gut colonization might be caused by growth suppression by antibiotics during SDD/SOD. We investigated intestinal colonization with ARGNB after discharge from ICU and discontinuation of SDD or SOD. ⋯ Intestinal carriage at ICU discharge and the acquisition rate of ARGNB after ICU discharge are lower after SDD than after SOD. The prevalence of intestinal carriage with ARGNB at 10 days after ICU discharge was comparable in both groups, suggesting rapid clearance of ARGNB from the gut after ICU discharge.
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The prognosis in refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at hospital arrival is often considered dismal. The use of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (eCPR) for perfusion enhancement during resuscitation has shown variable results. We aimed to investigate outcome in refractory OHCA patients managed conservatively without use of eCPR. ⋯ Survival after refractory OHCA with ongoing CPR at hospital arrival was significantly lower than among patients with prehospital ROSC. Despite a lower survival, the majority of survivors with both refractory OHCA and prehospital ROSC were discharged with a similar degree of favorable neurological outcome, indicating that continued efforts in spite of refractory OHCA are not in vain and may still lead to favorable outcome even without eCPR.
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There is controversy around the prescription of adjunct corticosteroids in patients with fluid-refractory septic shock, and studies provide mixed results, showing benefit, no benefit, and harm. Traditional means for evaluating whether a patient receives corticosteroids relied on anecdotal experience or measurement of serum cortisol production following stimulation. We set out to measure both serum cortisol and the intracellular signaling receptor for cortisol, the glucocorticoid receptor (GCR), in this group of patients. ⋯ We show that decreased expression of the GCR correlated with poor outcome from septic shock, particularly in those patients with high serum cortisol. This is consistent with findings from transcriptional studies showing that downregulation of GCR signaling genes portends worse outcome.
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Concepts for optimizing mechanical ventilation focus mainly on modifying the inspiratory phase. We propose flow-controlled expiration (FLEX) as an additional means for lung protective ventilation and hypothesize that it is capable of recruiting dependent areas of the lungs. This study investigates potential recruiting effects of FLEX using models of mechanically ventilated pigs before and after induction of lung injury with oleic acid. ⋯ FLEX shifts regional ventilation towards dependent lung areas in healthy and in injured pig lungs. The recruiting capabilities of FLEX may be mainly responsible for lung-protective effects observed in an earlier study.