Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 2000
ReviewUsing and understanding sedation scoring systems: a systematic review.
To systematically review instruments for measuring the level and effectiveness of sedation in adult and pediatric ICU patients. ⋯ Many instruments have been used to measure sedation effectiveness in ICU patients. However, few of them exhibit satisfactory clinimetric properties. To help clinicians assess sedation at the bedside, to aid readers critically appraise the growing number of sedation studies in the ICU literature, and to inform the design of future investigations, additional information about the measurement properties of sedation effectiveness instruments is needed.
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 2000
Interobserver variability of the measurement of the mortality probability models (MPM II) in the assessment of severity of illness.
To assess the interobserver variability of the measurement of the MPM II system. ⋯ The MPM II severity system showed a high level of stability when used in groups of patients. Nevertheless, the observed variability in some variables means that it should be used with caution for individual patients.
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Intensive care medicine · Mar 2000
Procalcitonin for early diagnosis and differentiation of SIRS, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.
To determine the value of procalcitonin (PCT) in the early diagnosis (and differentiation) of patients with SIRS, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock in comparison to C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell and thrombocyte count, and APACHE-II score (AP-II). ⋯ In contrast to AP-II, PCT appears to be a useful early marker to discriminate between sepsis and severe sepsis.
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To examine the relationships between early hyperlactataemia, acidosis, organ failure, and mortality in children admitted to intensive care. ⋯ Hyperlactataemia on admission to intensive care is associated with a high mortality in children. Nonsurvivors within this group may be distinguished by the peak lactate level, or by persistent hyperlactataemia after 24 h of treatment.