Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jul 2023
Randomized Controlled TrialStructured Mobilization for Critically Ill Patients: A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Trial.
Rationale: Small trials and professional recommendations support mobilization interventions to improve recovery among critically ill patients, but their real-world effectiveness is unknown. Objective: To evaluate a low-cost, multifaceted mobilization intervention. Methods: We conducted a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial across 12 ICUs with diverse case mixes. ⋯ ICU mortality (31.5% vs. 29.0%), falls (0.7% vs. 0.4%), and unplanned extubations (2.0% vs. 1.8%) were similar between groups (all P > 0.3). Conclusions: A low-cost, multifaceted mobilization intervention did not improve overall mobility but improved patients' odds of standing and was safe. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03863470).
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Minerva anestesiologica · Jul 2023
The power of mechanical ventilation may predict mortality in critically ill patients.
Mechanical power (MP) is the amount of energy transferred from the ventilator to the patient within a unit of time. It has been emphasized in ventilation-induced lung injury (VILI) and mortality. However, its measurement and use in clinical practice are challenging. "Electronic recording systems (ERS)" using mechanical ventilation parameters provided by the ventilator can be helpful to measure and record the MP. The MP (J/minutes) formula is 0.098 x tidal volume x respiratory rate x (Ppeak - ½ ∆P), in which ∆P is the driving pressure and Ppeak is the peak pressure. We aimed to define the association between MP values and ICU mortality, mechanical ventilation days, and intensive care unit length of stay (ICU-LOS). The secondary outcome was to determine the most potent or essential component of power in the equation that has a role in mortality. ⋯ The first 24 h MP maybe a predictive value for the ICU patients' prognosis. This implies that MP may be used as a decision-making system to define the clinical approach and as a scoring system to predict patient prognosis.
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Critical care pharmacy has evolved rapidly over the last 50 years to keep pace with the rapid technological and knowledge advances that have characterized critical care medicine. The modern-day critical care pharmacist is a highly trained individual well suited for the interprofessional team-based care that critical illness necessitates. Critical care pharmacists improve patient-centered outcomes and reduce health care costs through three domains: direct patient care, indirect patient care, and professional service. Optimizing workload of critical care pharmacists, similar to the professions of medicine and nursing, is a key next step for using evidence-based medicine to improve patient-centered outcomes.
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Objective: Our study aims to evaluate the association between heart rate variability (HRV) and short- and long-term prognosis in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). Methods and Results: Adult patients continuously monitored for over 24 h in ICUs from the the American Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC)-IV Waveform Database were recruited in our study. Twenty HRV-related variables (8 time domain, 6 frequency domain, and 6 nonlinear variables) were calculated based on RR intervals. ⋯ All the time domain, frequency domain, and nonlinear HRV parameters did not differ significantly between survivors and nonsurvivors with or without AF (all P > 0.05). Presence of renal failure, malignancy, and elevated blood urea nitrogen level were associated with increased 30-day all-cause mortality in SR patients, while presence of sepsis, infection, higher platelet count, and magnesium level were associated with increased 30-day all-cause mortality in AF patients. Conclusions: Heart rate variability variables were not associated with increased 30-day all-cause mortality in ICU patients with or without AF.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2023
Understanding the Intricacies of Delivering Compassionate Care in the Intensive Care Unit and What Hinders It: A Qualitative Study of Members of 2 Critical Care Societies.
Patient-centered care is increasing in importance especially in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic era. We sought to understand factors affecting compassionate care faced by intensivists in the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ Compassionate attitudes can be hindered by an underlying worry about the decision made by the patient and their family, a lack of confidence in making hard moral decisions, and the burdens of burnout.