Revue médicale suisse
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Revue médicale suisse · Dec 2006
Review[Tight glucose control in the ICU: how aggressive should we be?].
The issue of tight glucose control in intensive care remains controversial. Compelling evidence supports the use of intensive insulin therapy in postoperative patients, particularly those who have undergone cardiac surgery. ⋯ These data suggest that the optimal target for blood glucose needs to be better defined in critical care practice and might depend on the underlying pathology. Therefore, while awaiting the results of multi-centric studies, including a large heterogeneous cohort, a less aggressive approach for glucose control is preferable in the majority of critically ill patients.
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Revue médicale suisse · Dec 2006
Review[What about quality of life in elderly intensive care survivors?].
Elderly patients are more and more frequent in intensive care units (ICU). Few studies focused on the ouality of life (QOL) of those patients after ICU. QOL refers to the subjective perception of the health status by the patient himself. ⋯ Elderly patients have usually a reduced functional status compared to the general population, or compared to younger ICU patients. QOL of these patients seems to be comparable to the QOL before ICU admission, especially in the psychological and mental domains, but it is sometimes reduced in the physical domains. Those results seem to be explained by a better acceptance by the elderly of their physical difficulties.