Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2011
Ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill stroke patients: frequency, risk factors, and outcomes.
Our main objective was to assess incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in stroke patients. ⋯ Pneumonia appears as a frequent problem in mechanically ventilated stroke patients. Chronic lung disease history, severity of stroke level at admission, and hemorrhagic transformation of stroke set the stage for developing VAP. The duration of both mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit stay gets significantly prolonged by VAP, but it does not affect mortality.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2011
Evolutive physicochemical characterization of diabetic ketoacidosis in adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit.
The aim of this study was to characterize the first 48-hour evolution of metabolic acidosis of adult patients with diabetic ketoacidosis admitted to the intensive care unit. ⋯ Initial metabolic acidosis was due to SIG, and the treatment was associated with a significant decrease of SIG with an elevation of serum chloride above the normal range.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2011
The epidemiology of acute respiratory failure in hospitalized patients: a Brazilian prospective cohort study.
The purpose of this study was to assess risk factors associated with the development of acute respiratory failure (ARF) and death in a general intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ Acute respiratory failure represents a large percentage of all ICU patients, and the high mortality is related to some preventable factors such as the time to ICU admission.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2011
A polyurethane cuffed endotracheal tube is associated with decreased rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of a polyurethane-cuffed endotracheal tube would result in a decrease in ventilator-associated pneumonia rate. ⋯ Use of a polyurethane-cuffed endotracheal tube was associated with a significant decrease in the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia in our study.
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Journal of critical care · Jun 2011
Changes of heart and respiratory rate dynamics during weaning from mechanical ventilation: a study of physiologic complexity in surgical critically ill patients.
The aim of the study was to investigate heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) complexity in patients with weaning failure or success, using both linear and nonlinear techniques. ⋯ We suggest that nonlinear analysis of cardiorespiratory dynamics has increased prognostic impact upon weaning outcome in surgical patients.