Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Anasthesiol Intensivmed Notfallmed Schmerzther · Sep 1997
[On-site laboratory monitoring on the intensive care unit. Blood gas, electrolyte, glucose, hemoglobin and lactate determination with the CIBA Corning 865 Analysis System].
For decision-making in the ICU, rapid and accurate analysis of vital laboratory parameters is essential. The industry provides devices which analyse these parameters on a decentralised setting and which are designed for use by non-laboratory personnel. We investigated whether accuracy and handling of a new analyser (Ciba-Corning 865, Chiron Diagnostics, Medfield, USA) are good enough for basing clinical decisions on the measured parameters. ⋯ The measured parameters were accurate enough to be used for therapeutic decisions in acute care medicine. Although it should not be a complete alternative to the clinical laboratory, because of rapid analyses, small sample volumes and easy handling the use of the Ciba-Corning 865 is advantageous for patients and users.
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Critical care medicine · Sep 1997
ReviewAnalyzing intensive care unit length of stay data: problems and possible solutions.
To explore methods of evaluating the length of stay patterns of intensive care unit (ICU) patients. It was hypothesized that the mean does not adequately describe the typical length of stay (central tendency) because distribution patterns are often markedly skewed by patients with extended stays. Therefore, other descriptors are needed. In addition, ways are needed to identify outliers-patients with stays longer or shorter than the bulk of the data. ⋯ When analyzing length of stay data it is important to visually examine the frequency distribution because it is often skewed to the right. This skewness renders traditional parameters such as the mean and standard deviation less useful for describing the typical length of stay. Instead, the median, mode, and harmonic mean should be used. When reporting length of stay, some indication of the characteristics of the data should be presented. A graph of the frequency distribution rapidly allows the reader to determine its shape. A simple method is to report the mean, median, and range.
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Critical care medicine · Sep 1997
Multicenter StudyOutcome of pediatric intensive care at six centers in Mexico and Ecuador.
To improve understanding of the causes of morbidity and mortality among critically ill children in the countries studied. ⋯ For six pediatric ICUs in Mexico and Ecuador, mortality was significantly higher than predicted among lower-risk patients. Tracheal intubation, central catheters, pneumonia, sepsis, and nonsurgical status were associated with poor outcome for low-risk groups. We speculate that reducing the use of invasive central catheters and endotracheal intubation for lower-risk patients, coupled with improved infection control, could lower mortality rates in the population studied.
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Comparative Study
The impact of do-not-resuscitate orders on nursing workload in an ICU.
The meaning of do-not-resuscitate orders and their impact on nursing care have been a source of confusion, and the results of the few studies that have examined nursing care of ICU patients with these orders have been conflicting. ⋯ A high level of nursing care was required for this group of critically ill patients, and the do-not-resuscitate order did not alter the number of hours of nursing care required after the order was written.
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Revista médica de Chile · Sep 1997
Comparative Study[Study of the survival of elderly patients in intensive care units. Should they be admitted to these units?].
An important increase in health care costs has occurred lately, determined in part by the expenses of intensive care units. An important proportion of beds in these units are occupied by elders, with high costs and dubious results. ⋯ Older age was not associated with a higher mortality during intensive care unit stay. Prognosis is determined by the admission severity score and the number of concomitant chronic diseases.