Respiratory care
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Sleep-disordered breathing affects a significant portion of the population worldwide. It is associated with many comorbid conditions, including heart failure and depression. Advances in the field regarding the diagnosis and treatment of sleep-disordered breathing are occurring on an increasing basis. This review will discuss the latest findings in the field with an emphasis on people who have obstructive sleep apnea.
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Airway management techniques are aimed at reducing complications associated with artificial airways and mechanical ventilation, such as retained secretions. The impact of airway management techniques on ventilator-associated events (VAEs) varies considerably by modality. Closed-suction techniques are generally recommended but have limited, if any, impact on VAEs. ⋯ Devices designed specifically to remove biofilm from the inside of endotracheal tubes appear to be safe, but their role in VAE prevention is uncertain. Subglottic secretion clearance by artificial cough maneuvers is promising, but more research is needed to assess its clinical feasibility. Continuous cuff-pressure management appears to be effective in reducing microaspiration of subglottic secretions.
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In 2013, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention redefined surveillance for quality of care in ventilated patients by shifting from ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) definitions to ventilator-associated event (VAE) definitions. VAE definitions were designed to overcome many of the limitations of VAP definitions, including their complexity, subjectivity, limited correlation with outcomes, and incomplete capture of many important and morbid complications of mechanical ventilation. VAE definitions broadened the focus of surveillance from pneumonia alone to the syndrome of nosocomial complications in ventilated patients, as marked by sustained increases in ventilator settings after a period of stable or decreasing ventilator settings. ⋯ Risk factors for VAEs include sedation with benzodiazepines or propofol, volume overload, high tidal-volume ventilation, high inspiratory driving pressures, oral care with chlorhexidine, blood transfusions, stress ulcer prophylaxis, and patient transport. Potential strategies to prevent VAEs include minimizing sedation, paired daily spontaneous awakening and breathing trials, early mobility, conservative fluid management, conservative transfusion thresholds, and low tidal-volume ventilation. A limited number of studies that have tested subsets of these interventions have reported substantial decreases in VAEs; no group, however, has thus far assessed the impact of a fully optimized VAE prevention bundle that includes all of these interventions upon VAE rates and other outcomes.
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COPD is now included in Medicare's hospital readmission reduction program. Hospitals with excessive risk-adjusted 30-d readmission rates receive financial penalties. Race/ethnicity is not included in the risk-adjustment models. We examined whether race/ethnicity was independently associated with readmission after controlling for clinical factors and other demographic variables. ⋯ Racial/ethnic disparities in observed readmission rates may be largely explained by the more severe clinical profiles of minority populations. Controlling for known clinical risk factors effectively mediates the relationship between race/ethnicity and readmission.
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Implementation of ventilator bundles is associated with reductions in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). However, the new surveillance model of ventilator-associated events (VAEs) has shifted the focus from VAP to objective, generalized signs of pulmonary decompensation not specific to VAP. This raises the question of whether the ventilator bundle also is effective in reducing VAE. ⋯ The largest study found significant reductions in duration of intubation with weaning, sedation, and head of bed elevation, as well as reduced mortality risk with weaning and sedation bundle elements. Nonetheless, these studies should be useful in designing future prospective controlled studies to determine what elements of a future prevention bundle might be effective in reducing VAEs. At this juncture, and based on the limited evidence to date, it appears that incorporating daily sedation interruptions and spontaneous breathing trials are the factors most likely to reduce VAEs.