Critical care medicine
-
Critical care medicine · May 2009
Editorial Comment Comparative StudyNosocomial bacteremia a continuing challenge--a challenge we can meet.
-
Critical care medicine · May 2009
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyDifferences in immune response may explain lower survival among older men with pneumonia.
Lower life expectancy in men is generally attributed to higher likelihood of risky behavior and because men develop chronic conditions earlier. If sex-related differences in survival are independent of preinfection chronic health and health behavior, it would suggest that survival differences may occur because of sex differences in quality of care and biological response to infection, and these differences may contribute to sex differences in life expectancy. We assessed if sex-related survival difference following community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is due to differences in clinical characteristics, quality of care, or immune response. ⋯ Lower survival among men following CAP was not explained by differences in chronic diseases, health behaviors, and quality of care. Patterns of inflammatory, coagulation, and fibrinolysis biomarkers among men may explain reduced short-term and long-term survival.
-
Critical care medicine · May 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyHigh-frequency percussive ventilation improves perioperatively clinical evolution in pulmonary resection.
During thoracotomy, positive end-expiratory pressure is applied to the dependent lung and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) inflates the nondependent lung to avoid hypoxemia. These methods do not allow the removal of produced secretions. We hypothesized that high-frequency percussive ventilation(HFPV) can improve both conditions and reduce hospital length of stay in these patients. ⋯ Under the present settings, HFPV improved oxygenation in one-lung ventilation during pulmonary resection. Postoperatively, it decreased the length of stay and increased the removal of secretions in comparison with CPAP.