American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Estimates of the height of patients in the intensive care unit are required to adhere to clinical guidelines for drug dosages, ventilatory support, and nutrition. The gold standard of standing height cannot be used because these patients are often unconscious and recumbent. The ability of physiotherapists or dietitians to measure height in unconscious, recumbent patients has not been evaluated. ⋯ Physiotherapists' measurements of supine height of recumbent critical care patients, obtained by using a nonrigid measuring tape, are more accurate than measurements obtained by physicians and dietitians.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Manual vs Automated Lateral Rotation to Reduce Preventable Pulmonary Complications in Ventilator Patients.
To estimate effect sizes for a trial to compare preventable pulmonary complications (PPCs), turning-related adverse events, mechanical ventilation duration, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, and ICU mortality between patients randomized to 2-hourly manual or continuous automated lateral rotation. ⋯ The incidence of PPCs in adult patients receiving mechanical ventilation in a medical-surgical ICU was high. Automated turning decreased PPCs with time but had little effect on secondary outcomes. Safety outcomes were not substantially different between groups. A modest efficacy effect supported reduced PPCs with automated turning to the lateral position.