Shock : molecular, cellular, and systemic pathobiological aspects and therapeutic approaches : the official journal the Shock Society, the European Shock Society, the Brazilian Shock Society, the International Federation of Shock Societies
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Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) who develop chronic critical illness significantly stress the clinical capacity and financial resources of healthcare systems. Although vast improvements have been made in critical care management, outcomes for this ICU subset remain poor. A hallmark for patients who progress to chronic critical illness is the development of persistent inflammation and immunosuppression. ⋯ Interestingly, each of these clinical states bears strikingly similar immune defects, often resulting in the activation of a persistent inflammatory state. Strategies aimed at the prevention or early recognition of this state of immune compromise may help improve outcomes for these individuals and minimize the number who progress to chronic critical illness. This review explores the current knowledge regarding the immune defects associated with the development of persistent inflammation, the ways in which it can manifest clinically, attempted therapeutic interventions to date, and future insights into improving outcomes for this patient population.
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Far from traditional "vital signs," the field of hemodynamic monitoring (HM) is rapidly developing. However, it is also easy to misunderstand hemodynamic therapy as merely HM and some concrete bundles or guidelines for circulation support. Here, we describe the concept of "critical hemodynamic therapy" and clarify the concepts of the "therapeutic target" and "therapeutic endpoint" in clinical practice. ⋯ The flow-directed target for fluid infusion might be a priority, but it remains controversial in resuscitation. The interpretation of these targets is necessary for adequate resuscitation and the correction of tissue hypoxia. The incoherence phenomenon of resuscitation (macrocirculation and microcirculation, tissue perfusion, and cellular oxygen utilization) is gaining increased attention, and early identification of these incoherences might be helpful to reduce the risk of over-resuscitation.
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The release of damage-associated molecular pattern molecules in the extracellular space secondary to injury has been shown to cause systemic activation of the coagulation system and endothelial cell damage. We hypothesized that pediatric trauma patients with increased levels of histone-complexed DNA fragments (hcDNA) would have evidence of coagulopathy and endothelial damage that would be associated with poor outcomes. ⋯ hcDNA is released following injury and correlates with coagulopathy, endothelial glycocalyx damage, and poor clinical outcome early after severe pediatric trauma. These results indicate that hcDNA may play an important role in development of coagulation abnormalities and endothelial glycocalyx damage in children following trauma.
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The ultrasonographic evaluation of inferior vena cava (IVC) parameters, particularly the collapsibility index (CI), has been widely used in the assessment of the fluid responsiveness of critically ill patients, but the results are conflicting. In this study, we aimed to investigate the early change in CI after increased intravascular volume (IVV) induced by passive leg raising (PLR). A total of 145 healthy volunteers over 18 years old were enrolled between September and December in 2015. ⋯ In conclusion, IVC-CI measured by ultrasound is useful for the detection of early IVV change induced by 2 min PLR. However, its ability to detect the increased IVV value is influenced by age, BMI, and baseline CI. Moreover, only 50.3% of the subjects had an IVC-CI reduction of more than 10%, making IVC-CI of little value for clinical applications, due to its poor sensitivity.
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The incidence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) has decreased in the last decade by improvement in trauma care. However, it still remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the current incidence and mortality of MODS in polytrauma patients. ⋯ In this polytrauma population mortality was predominantly caused by brain injury. Even though MODS was still present in severely injured polytrauma patients, its presentation was only early onset, less severe during a shorter time period, and accompanied by lower mortality.