Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Importance of pre-existing co-morbidities for prognosis of septicemia in critically ill patients.
To determine admission characteristics associated with the outcome of septicemia in critically ill patients and more specifically assess the prognostic value of pre-existing co-morbidities. ⋯ Pre-existing co-morbidities assessed at the admission to the ICU significantly improved the prediction of mortality from septicemia compared to Apache II score alone.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Case ReportsConservative management of traumatic chylothorax: a case report.
A case is presented of a right traumatic chylothorax, secondary to thoracic trauma with bilateral posterior eleventh rib fracture, treated by total parenteral nutrition and pleural drainage, with resolution within 2 weeks. On the basis of this clinical report and of a review of the literature, it is concluded that adequate conservative management should be initially the treatment of choice. Surgical treatment should be reserved to the cases in which clinical improvement does not occur within 2 weeks, and should consist of supradiaphragmatic thoracic duct ligation. Thoracoscopic fibrin glue injection has recently been described as a possible alternative treatment.
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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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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1993
Epidemiological impact of prolonged systematic use of topical SDD on bacterial colonization of the tracheobronchial tree and antibiotic resistance. A three year study.
to evaluate the effect of the prolonged systematic use of topical SDD (tobramycin 80 mg, polymyxin E 100 mg, amphotericin B 500 mg) on ICU ecology as expressed by changes in tracheal colonization and bacterial resistances. ⋯ Our data suggest that the prolonged use of SDD is associated with dramatic changes in ICU ecology: the incidence of Gram negative colonization is significantly diminished by SDD whereas Gram positive tend to increase. Pseudomonas developed an increasing resistance towards tobramycin one of the components of the SDD formula we used.