Intensive care medicine
-
Intensive care medicine · Dec 2000
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialDifferent dosages of dobutamine in septic shock patients: determining oxygen consumption with a metabolic monitor integrated in a ventilator.
Oxygen consumption (VO2) obtained from respiratory gases by indirect calorimetry (VO2,IC) with a metabolic monitor integrated in a ventilator were to be compared to VO2 obtained by the Fick principle (VO2,Fick) in septic patients following an increase in oxygen delivery (DO2) induced by positive inotropic support. ⋯ With a metabolic monitor integrated in a ventilator it was possible to carry out continuous monitoring of calorimetric data under clinical conditions. In contrast to previous studies using indirect calorimetry, this study showed a moderate correlation between VO2 and DO2 in septic patients using either method. The clinical relevance of this finding requires further investigation. Different factors (e. g. injectant temperature, pulmonary VO2) produced substantial differences between VO2,IC and VO2,Fick as previously shown.
-
Intensive care medicine · Dec 2000
Predictors of short-term mortality in critically ill patients with solid malignancies.
Admission of cancer patients with serious medical complications to the ICU remains controversial primarily because of the high short-term mortality rates in these patients. However, the cancer patient population is heterogeneous regarding age, underlying conditions, and curability of their disease, suggesting that large variations may occur in the effectiveness of intensive care within this subgroup of critically ill patients. ⋯ When transfer to an ICU is considered an option by patients and physicians, 30-day mortality is better estimated by an evaluation of acute organ dysfunction than by the characteristics of the underlying malignancy.
-
Intensive care medicine · Dec 2000
Hypothermia with indoor occurrence is associated with a worse outcome.
To describe patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) for hypothermia, evaluate prognostic factors, and test the hypothesis that patients found indoors have a worse outcome. ⋯ With equivalent body temperature, patients found indoors were more severely affected and died more frequently than those found outdoors.
-
Intensive care medicine · Dec 2000
Costs of care, long-term prognosis and quality of life in patients requiring renal replacement therapy during intensive care.
To assess (1) the long-term outcome of patients requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) in terms of 6-month and 5-year mortality, (2) quality of life and (3) costs of the intensive care. ⋯ There was only a minor increase in mortality after discharge from hospital among patients treated for ARF in intensive care. The costs related to ARF in intensive care are high, but the almost complete physical and functional recovery seen in ARF survivors should be noted in cost-effective analyses.