Critical care clinics
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Initial reporting suggested that kidney involvement following COVID-19 infection was uncommon but this is now known not to be the case. Acute kidney injury (AKI) may arise through several mechanisms and complicate up to a quarter of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection being associated with an increased risk for both morbidity and death. ⋯ The mainstay of treatment remains the prevention of worsening kidney damage and in some cases they need for renal replacement therapies (RRT). Although the use of other blood purification techniques has been proposed as potential treatments, results to-date have not been definitive.
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With an ever-increasing number of COVID-19 survivors, providers are tasked with addressing the longer lasting symptoms of COVID-19, or postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). For critically ill patients, existing knowledge about postintensive care syndrome (PICS) represents a useful structure for understanding PASC. Post-ICU clinics leverage a multidisciplinary team to evaluate and treat the physical, cognitive, and psychological sequelae central to both PICS and PASC in critically ill patients. While management through both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic modalities can be used, further research into both the optimal treatment and prevention of PASC represents a key public health imperative.
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Pregnant women are at increased risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and COVID-19-related complications. Their increased risk in conjuncture with the normal physiologic changes in pregnancy poses unique challenges for the management of the critically ill pregnant patient. This article will review the initial management of pregnant patients who develop acute hypoxic respiratory failure and subsequent treatment of those that deteriorate to acute respiratory distress syndrome and require advanced therapies. Moreover, fetal monitoring and timing of delivery will be reviewed.
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2022
ReviewSevere COVID-19 and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children in Children and Adolescents.
Severe complications related to COVID-19 occur infrequently in children and adolescents. these life-threatening complications are mainly acute respiratory failure from acute COVID-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). MIS-C is a postinfectious complication occurring approximately 3 to 6 weeks mostly after an asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection. For both types of complications, supportive ICU care is often required. For MIS-C critical illness, immunomodulation is prescribed to reverse hyperinflammation and its cardiac and other sequelae.