Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Family intensive care unit (ICU) syndrome, a comorbid response to another person's stay in the ICU, is characterized by emotional distress, poor sleep health, and decision fatigue. ⋯ Understanding the temporal dynamics and mechanisms of the symptoms of family ICU syndrome can inform clinical, research, and policy initiatives that enhance the provision of family-centered critical care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Written Communication, Visitation Policies, and Awareness of Medical Issues Among Intensive Care Unit Families.
Open intensive care unit (ICU) visitation policies facilitate communication between clinicians and patients' families. Restrictive visitation policies (eg, during a pandemic) may reduce families' comprehension of information. ⋯ Written communication helps families correctly identify ICU issues. The benefit may be enhanced when families cannot visit the hospital. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03969810.
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2023
ReviewDevelopment of the Modern Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit and Current Management.
The modern cardiothoracic intensive care unit (CTICU) developed as a result of advances in critical care, cardiology, and cardiac surgery. Patients undergoing cardiac surgery today are sicker, frailer, and have more complex cardiac and noncardiac morbidities. CTICU providers need to understand postoperative implications of different surgical procedures, complications that can occur in CTICU patients, resuscitation protocols for cardiac arrest, and diagnostic and therapeutic interventions such as transesophageal echocardiography and mechanical circulatory support. Optimum CTICU care requires a multidisciplinary team with collaboration between cardiac surgeons and critical care physicians with training and experience in the care of CTICU patients.
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This article gives a historical perspective of visitation in the intensive care unit (ICU) since the establishment of critical care units. Initially, visitors were not allowed because it was thought to be harmful to the patient. ⋯ Virtual visitation was introduced during the pandemic to maintain family presence, but limited evidence suggests that this is not equivalent to in-person visitation. Going forward ICUs and health systems must consider family presence policies that allow for visitation under any circumstance.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jul 2023
Clinical TrialInterventions Relieving Dyspnea in Intubated Patients Show Responsiveness of the Mechanical Ventilation - Respiratory Distress Observation Scale.
Rationale: Breathing difficulties are highly stressful. In critically ill patients, they are associated with an increased risk of posttraumatic manifestations. Dyspnea, the corresponding symptom, cannot be directly assessed in noncommunicative patients. ⋯ MV-RDOS scores were higher in patients with EEG preinspiratory potentials (4.9 [IQR, 4.2-6.3] vs. 4.0 [IQR, 2.1-4.9]; P = 0.002). Conclusions: The MV-RDOS seems able to detect and monitor respiratory symptoms reasonably well in noncommunicative intubated patients. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02801838).