Intensive care medicine
-
Intensive care medicine · Aug 1994
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialAccuracy assessment for three fiberoptic pulmonary artery catheters for SvO2 monitoring.
To compare values of SvO2 obtained by reflectance spectrophotometry continuous monitoring with those obtained from blood samples measurements by transmission spectrophotometry (Co-Oximetry). ⋯ For usual monitoring in the ICU, SAT2 and OX3, gave SvO2 values which are in acceptable agreement with SvO2 measured on blood samples by Co-Oximetry.
-
Intensive care medicine · Aug 1994
Case ReportsOutpatient therapy of iatrogenic drug dependency following prolonged sedation in the pediatric intensive care unit.
The authors present their clinical experience with the oral administration of lorazepam, methadone, and pentobarbital to prevent or treat withdrawal symptoms following prolonged sedation in the PICU patient. The 3 patients presented required prolonged sedation for mechanical ventilation. Different agents were used for sedation in the 3 patients including intravenous fentanyl, midazolam, and pentobarbital. ⋯ The switch to oral administration eliminated the need for intravenous access in the 3 patients and allowed for earlier discharge home. All 3 patients were discharged home on an oral, taper schedule. Such an approach may lead to earlier home discharge thereby improving the patient's quality of life as well as saving health care dollars.
-
Intensive care medicine · Aug 1994
Hypocortisolaemia and adrenocortical responsiveness at onset of septic shock.
To characterise the plasma cortisol profile and adreno-cortial responsiveness (short Synacthen test) of patients in septic shock. ⋯ In septic shock, 'hypocortisolaemia' is not uncommon and does not predict a high mortality; adrenocortical hypo-responsiveness may be associated with poor outcome.
-
Intensive care medicine · Aug 1994
Case ReportsInhaled nitric oxide for a severe respiratory syncytial virus infection in an infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
To report the first case of ARDS in children treated with nitric oxide (NO) inhalation. ⋯ Two mechanisms to explain oxygenation improvement can be suggested: selective improvement in perfusion of ventilated regions and bronchodilation.
-
Intensive care medicine · Aug 1994
Estimation of cardiac index by means of the arterial and the mixed venous oxygen content and pulmonary oxygen uptake determination in the early post-operative period following surgery of congenital heart disease.
To assess the reliability of estimation of cardiac index based on the mixed venous oxygen saturation and methods of improving the estimation of cardiac index. ⋯ CaO2/Ca-vDO2 correlates much better with CI than the SvO2, therefore CI could be better estimated based on CaO2/Ca-vDO2. Furthermore CaO2/Ca-vDO2 provides good information about the oxygen supply situation of the body.