Articles: critical-care.
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Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Jan 1993
The pulmonary artery (Swan-Ganz) catheter. Evaluation of a hemodynamic monitoring device in critical care medicine.
The pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) is an invasive hemodynamic monitoring device that is used extensively in critical care units. This technological advance allows the critical care physician and nurse to closely monitor physiological functions at the bedside. ⋯ This has resulted in much editorial comment expressing divergent opinions on the value of the PAC, but there has been no scientific evidence to guide practice and no apparent effect on the use of these devices. The PAC and other medical monitoring devices must be evaluated with respect to their impact on patient care.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Comparative StudyProspective evaluation of self-extubations in a medical intensive care unit.
To evaluate the incidence, associated factors and gravity of self-extubations. ⋯ Self-extubation is a frequent and serious complication of mechanical ventilation. Deliberate self-extubation, the most frequent type of incident could possibly be reduced by better sedation of agitated patients and accidental self-extubation by better training of the nursing staff.
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Multiple organ failure remains a leading cause of death in surgical intensive care units. This review of multiple organ failure focuses on recent (1990 to 1992) laboratory and clinical advances related to diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of multiple organ failure and is divided into three parts. ⋯ The three hypotheses focus on the gut, molecular mediators, and the microvasculature. Third, it synthesizes those three mechanisms into a single paradigm; this unifying paradigm can serve as a framework in which to interpret subsequent laboratory and clinical advances.
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Improvements in surgical management and intensive care therapy have enabled many patients to initially survive severe life-threatening trauma or major surgical procedures only to die after delayed bouts of sepsis. This paper reviews literature published within the past year on the effects of nutrient substitution on malnutrition, injury, and the host immune response. Topics discussed include immunodeficiencies in trauma and malnutrition, immunomodulation by nutrition, and parenteral versus enteral nutrition. We also discuss the roles of arginine, glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, and dietary nucleotides in the host immune response.