Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The acute effects of body position strategies and respiratory therapy in paralyzed patients with acute lung injury.
Routine turning of critically ill patients is a standard of care. In recent years, specialized beds that provide automated turning have been introduced. These beds have been reported to improve lung function, reduce hospital-acquired pneumonia, and facilitate secretion removal. This trial was designed to measure the physiological effects of routine turning and respiratory therapy in comparison with continuous lateral rotation (CLR). ⋯ The acute effects of CLR are undoubtedly different in other patient populations (spinal cord injury and unilateral lung injury). The link between acute physiological changes and improved outcomes associated with CLR remain to be determined.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Measurement of tracheal temperature is not a reliable index of total respiratory heat loss in mechanically ventilated patients.
Minimizing total respiratory heat loss is an important goal during mechanical ventilation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether changes in tracheal temperature (a clinical parameter that is easy to measure) are reliable indices of total respiratory heat loss in mechanically ventilated patients. ⋯ In intensive care unit (ICU) mechanically ventilated patients, total respiratory heat loss was twice as much with either hydrophobic or hydroscopic HME than with the HH. This suggests that a much greater amount of heat was extracted from the respiratory tract by the HMEs than by the HH. Tracheal temperature, although simple to measure in ICU patients, does not appear to be a reliable estimate of total respiratory heat loss.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Prospectively validated predictions of shock and organ failure in individual septic surgical patients: the Systemic Mediator Associated Response Test.
Clinically useful predictions of end-organ function and failure in severe sepsis may be possible through analyzing the interactions among demographics, physiologic parameters, standard laboratory tests, and circulating markers of inflammation. The present study evaluated the ability of such a methodology, the Systemic Mediator Associated Response Test (SMART), to predict the clinical course of septic surgery patients from a database of medical and surgical patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock. ⋯ SMART multivariate models accurately predict pathophysiology, shock, and organ failure in individual septic surgical patients. These prognostications may facilitate early treatment of end-organ dysfunction in surgical sepsis.