Articles: critical-care.
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2024
ReviewChallenging management dogma where evidence is non-existent, weak, or outdated: part II.
Many dogmas influence daily clinical practice, and critical care medicine is no exception. We previously highlighted the weak, questionable, and often contrary evidence base underpinning four established medical managements-loop diuretics for acute heart failure, routine use of heparin thromboprophylaxis, rate of sodium correction for hyponatremia, and 'every hour counts' for treating bacterial meningitis. We now provide four further examples in this "Dogma II" piece (a week's course of antibiotics, diabetic ketoacidosis algorithms, sodium bicarbonate to improve ventricular contractility during severe metabolic acidosis, and phosphate replacement for hypophosphatemia) where routine practice warrants re-appraisal.
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Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) is a form of intensive life support that has seen increasing use globally to improve outcomes for patients who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Hospitals with advanced critical care capabilities may be interested in launching an ECPR program to offer this support to the patients they serve; however, to do so, they must first consider the significant investment of resources necessary to start and sustain the program. The existing literature describes many single-center ECPR programs and often focuses on inpatient care and patient outcomes in hospitals with cardiac surgery capabilities. ⋯ We focus on emergency medical services and ED clinician roles in identifying patients, mobilizing resources, initiation and management of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in the ED, and ongoing efforts to improve ECPR program quality. Each center experienced a significant learning curve to reach goals of arrest-to-flow times of cannulation for ECPR. Building consensus from multidisciplinary stakeholders, including out-of-hospital stakeholders; establishing shared expectations of ECPR outcomes; and ensuring adequate resource support for ECPR activation were all key lessons in improving our ECPR programs.
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To manage a clinical emergency effectively, physicians need well-developed leadership skills, yet limited structured leadership training is available for critical care trainees. To develop an effective curriculum, leadership competencies must first be defined. ⋯ During clinical emergencies, followers value leaders who assert themselves while also maintaining positive team interaction and encouraging an organized flow of information. Our findings provide a potential framework to develop a leadership curriculum for critical care trainees.
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2024
Environmental sustainability in intensive care: the path forward. An ESICM Green Paper.
The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) Green Paper aims to address the challenge of environmental sustainability in intensive care and proposes actionable strategies for integrating sustainability into intensive care unit (ICU) stakeholder actions. ⋯ The ESICM Green Paper reviewed the relevance of climate change to intensive care and provided suggestions for clinical practice, research, education, and ESICM organizational domains. It underscores that reducing intensive care's ecological footprint can coexist with high-quality patient care. Promoting a resilient, responsible healthcare system is a joint responsibility of all ICU stakeholders.