Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Sep 2009
Case ReportsLack of irrefutable validation does not negate clinical utility of near-infrared spectroscopy monitoring: learning to trust new technology.
Reliance on new monitoring device technology is based upon an understanding of how the device operates and its reliability in a specific clinical setting. The introduction of new monitoring devices will therefore elicit either distrust of the new technology and the data presented or adoption of new devices. The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology to monitor vital organs in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients has been extensively described yet controversy remains as to the use of this monitoring device. ⋯ Disregard for the NIRS data may have led to a fatal outcome in an unstable patient who might have received more timely intervention if the NIRS data had been acknowledged earlier. This case series demonstrates that 2-site NIRS monitoring accurately reflects situations in which poor clinical outcomes may occur when declining trends in somatic tissue oxygen saturations are not corrected. Physician management of the postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patient can change based upon the insights gained through the application of NIRS monitoring.
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Journal of critical care · Sep 2009
Prognostic value of indocyanine green elimination assessed with LiMON in septic patients.
Sepsis is the most frequent infection with high mortality rates in intensive care units (ICUs), and the prediction of outcome is important in the decision-making process. ⋯ The results suggest that ICG-PDR, assessed with a user-friendly noninvasive bedside LiMON device, is a good predictor of survival in septic patients. Sensitivity and specificity of the noninvasive measurement of ICG-PDR on ICU admission was comparable to that obtained by APACHE II scores.