Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Swiss medical weekly · Oct 1979
[The respiratory intensive unit. Requirements for the treatment of patients with acute respiratory insufficiency].
Patients with acute severe respiratory insufficiency can only be correctly monitored, treated and nursed in a well-equipped intensive care unit staffed with well-trained personnel. Qualified doctors and nursing staff are more important for the monitoring and assessment of the patient's symptoms than highly sophisticated electronic monitoring systems. ⋯ Treatment calls, above all, for the use of efficient and reliable respirators capable of adjustment to suit the impaired breathing. The quality of nursing and the success of intensive medical care measures are best ensured by well-designed layouts, strict adherence to sensible and appropriate hygienic techniques, continuous and practice-related further education for personnel, and unrestricted communication inside and outside the intensive care unit.
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During a 23-month period, 25 premature infants underwent ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus performed in the neonatal intensive care unit utilizing a limited posterolateral muscle-retracting incision. This approach afforded adequate exposure with minimal surgical time and trauma. All infants manifested severe respiratory distress and congestive heart failure. ⋯ Advantages of ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus in the neonatal intensive care unit include the elimination of problems of transportation (thermoregulation, ventilation, and loss of lines) and continuity of ongoing care and monitoring. The standard facilities of the neonatal intensive care unit proved completely satisfactory for ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus. Ligation in the neonatal intensive care unit is suggested to minimize potential complications of care in the operating room and transport of these critically ill infants.