Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2014
Normal saline to dilute parenteral drugs and to keep catheters open is a major and preventable source of hypernatremia acquired in the intensive care unit.
We wanted to identify modifiable risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired hypernatremia. ⋯ High sodium input by 0.9% saline used to dilute drugs and keep catheters open is a modifiable risk factor for ICU-acquired H. Dissolving drugs in dextrose 5% may partially prevent potentially harmful sodium overloading and H.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2014
Acute bacterial meningitis in the intensive care unit and risk factors for adverse clinical outcomes: Retrospective study.
Bacterial meningitis constitutes a medical emergency. Its burden has driven from childhood to the elderly and the immunocompromised population. However, the admission of patients with bacterial meningitis to the intensive care unit (ICU) has been sparsely approached, as have the prognostic factors associated with an adverse clinical outcome. ⋯ Patients with acute bacterial meningitis admitted to ICU had substantial morbidity and mortality. Those with low GCS or absence of fever have a particularly high risk of an adverse outcome.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2014
Duration of red blood cells storage and outcome in critically ill patients.
There is conflicting evidence on the effect of red blood cells (RBC) storage duration and clinical outcomes. We aimed to investigate the association between RBC storage duration and clinical outcomes in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ RBC storage duration was not associated with increased mortality nor ICU and hospital LOS. These results support the view that the effect of RBC storage duration on outcomes in critically ill patients is uncertain.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2014
The feasibility of measuring frailty to predict disability and mortality in older medical intensive care unit survivors.
To determine whether frailty can be measured within 4 days prior to hospital discharge in older intensive care unit (ICU) survivors of respiratory failure and whether it is associated with post-discharge disability and mortality. ⋯ Frailty can be measured in older ICU survivors near hospital discharge and is associated with 6-month mortality in unadjusted analysis. Larger studies to determine if frailty independently predicts outcomes are warranted.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2014
Observational StudyOutcomes of Pneumocystis pneumonia with respiratory failure in HIV-negative patients.
The outcomes and predictors of mortality from Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in HIV-negative patients requiring mechanical ventilation (MV) for respiratory failure were evaluated. ⋯ PCP in HIV-negative patients requiring MV for respiratory failure remains a serious illness with high mortality. Failure of the initial antimicrobial treatment for PCP as well as severity of illness was independent predictors of poor outcomes.