World journal of critical care medicine
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Pneumothorax is a potentially lethal complication associated with mechanical ventilation. Most of the patients with pneumothorax from mechanical ventilation have underlying lung diseases; pneumothorax is rare in intubated patients with normal lungs. Tension pneumothorax is more common in ventilated patients with prompt recognition and treatment of pneumothorax being important to minimize morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Small-bore catheters are now preferred in the majority of ventilated patients. Furthermore, if there are clinical signs of a tension pneumothorax, emergency needle decompression followed by tube thoracostomy is widely advocated. Patients with pneumothorax related to mechanical ventilation who have tension pneumothorax, a higher acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score or PaO2/FiO2 < 200 mmHg were found to have higher mortality.
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World J Crit Care Med · Feb 2014
ReviewUlinastatin for acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
To investigate the efficacy and safety of ulinastatin for patients with acute lung injury (ALI) and those with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ⋯ Ulinastatin seems to be effective for ALI and ARDS though most trials included were of poor quality and no information on safety was provided.
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World J Crit Care Med · Nov 2013
ReviewNeurologic complications and neurodevelopmental outcome with extracorporeal life support.
Extracorporeal life support is used to support patients of all ages with refractory cardiac and/or respiratory failure. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to rescue patients whose predicted mortality would have otherwise been high. It is associated with acute central nervous system (CNS) complications and with long- term neurologic morbidity. ⋯ There have been several intriguing reports of active physical rehabilitation of patients during ECMO support that is well tolerated and may improve recovery. Although there is evidence that some patients supported with ECMO appear to have very good outcomes, there is limited understanding of the long-term impact of ECMO on quality of life and long-term cognitive and physical functioning for many groups, especially the cardiac and pediatric populations. This deserves further study.
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World J Crit Care Med · Nov 2013
ReviewComputerized decision support in adult and pediatric critical care.
Computerized decision support (CDS) is the most advanced form of clinical decision support available and has evolved with innovative technologies to provide meaningful assistance to medical professionals. Critical care clinicians are in unique environments where vast amounts of data are collected on individual patients, and where expedient and accurate decisions are paramount to the delivery of quality healthcare. Many CDS tools are in use today among adult and pediatric intensive care units as diagnostic aides, safety alerts, computerized protocols, and automated recommendations for management. ⋯ CDS tools integrated into electronic health records are also valuable to researchers providing rapid identification of eligible patients, streamlining data-gathering and analysis, and providing cohorts for study of rare and chronic diseases through data-warehousing. Although the need for human judgment in the daily care of critically ill patients has limited the study and realization of meaningful improvements in overall patient outcomes, CDS tools continue to evolve and integrate into the daily workflow of clinicians, and will likely provide advancements over time. Through novel technologies, CDS tools have vast potential for progression and will significantly impact the field of critical care and clinical research in the future.
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World J Crit Care Med · Nov 2013
ReviewExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation for pediatric respiratory failure: History, development and current status.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is currently used to support patients of all ages with acute severe respiratory failure non-responsive to conventional treatments, and although initial use was almost exclusively in neonates, use for this age group is decreasing while use in older children remains stable (300-500 cases annually) and support for adults is increasing. Recent advances in technology include: refinement of double lumen veno-venous (VV) cannulas to support a large range of patient size, pumps with lower prime volumes, more efficient oxygenators, changes in circuit configuration to decrease turbulent flow and hemolysis. Veno-arterial (VA) mode of support remains the predominant type used; however, VV support has lower risk of central nervous injury and mortality. ⋯ Additional risk factors associated with death include prolonged use of mechanical ventilation (> 2 wk) prior to ECMO, use of VA ECMO, older patient age, prolonged ECMO support as well as complications during ECMO. Medical evidence regarding daily patient management specifically related to ECMO is scant, it usually mirrors care recommended for similar patients treated without ECMO. Linkage of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization dataset with other databases and collaborative research networks will be required to address this knowledge deficit as most centers treat only a few pediatric respiratory failure patients each year.