Annals of intensive care
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Annals of intensive care · Jan 2015
Vancomycin continuous infusion versus intermittent infusion during continuous venovenous hemofiltration: slow and steady may win the race.
Vancomycin during continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) is either administered by intermittent infusion (II) or continuous infusion (CI). In this patient population, the best method to rapidly achieve target serum concentrations of 15 mcg/ml to 25 mcg/ml remains to be elucidated. We hypothesized that CI would achieve a target serum level of 15 mcg/ml to 25 mcg/ml within 24 h of the initiation of therapy more consistently than II. ⋯ The results of our study suggest that critically ill patients on CVVH treated with CI achieved the target level faster than II and consistently keep the vancomycin level within target range.
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Annals of intensive care · Jan 2015
Development and usability testing of a Web-based decision aid for families of patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation.
Web-based decision aids are increasingly important in medical research and clinical care. However, few have been studied in an intensive care unit setting. The objectives of this study were to develop a Web-based decision aid for family members of patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation and to evaluate its usability and acceptability. ⋯ The Web-based decision aid for ICU surrogate decision makers can facilitate highly individualized information sharing with excellent usability and acceptability. Decision aids that employ an electronic format such as eCODES represent a strategy that could enhance patient-clinician collaboration and decision making quality in intensive care.
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Annals of intensive care · Jan 2015
Sleeping on a problem: the impact of sleep disturbance on intensive care patients - a clinical review.
Sleep disturbance is commonly encountered amongst intensive care patients and has significant psychophysiological effects, which protract recovery and increases mortality. Bio-physiological monitoring of intensive care patients reveal alterations in sleep architecture, with reduced sleep quality and continuity. ⋯ As a result, interventions are targeted towards modifiable factors to ameliorate their impact. This paper reviews normal sleep physiology and the impact that sleep disturbance has on patient psychophysiological recovery, and the contribution that the clinical environment has on intensive care patients' sleep.