Crit Care Resusc
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Patients who recover from critical illness may be left with significant limitations to their physical function that can have important consequences for their quality of life. Measures of physical function may be useful end points to consider in studies conducted in critically ill patients and are particularly attractive in studies investigating early mobilisation and rehabilitation. ⋯ A wide range of end points have been used to evaluate physical function in critically ill patients. However, further studies are needed to establish the measurement properties of the most commonly used end points in order to recommend their use in clinical trials.
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Historical Article
Tetanus and the evolution of intensive care in Australia.
A review of two series of patients with tetanus from the Royal Adelaide Hospital provides a historical perspective on the evolution of intensive care in Australia. Nine consecutive severe cases presenting in 1957 constituted one of the first series published. Four patients died. ⋯ The use of nitrous oxide in the first series was abandoned owing to adverse effects on bone marrow function. Complications reported in early literature, such as fractures and myositis ossificans, presumably related to unrelieved spasm, are no longer seen. Clinicians are now likely to see the condition only if working with counter-disaster teams overseas.