Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Infection is an important complication in cancer patients, which frequently leads to or prolongs hospitalization, and can also lead to acute organ dysfunction (severe sepsis) and eventually death. While cancer patients are known to be at higher risk for infection and subsequent complications, there is no national estimate of the magnitude of this problem. Our objective was to identify cancer patients with severe sepsis and to project these numbers to national levels. ⋯ Severe sepsis is a common, deadly, and costly complication in cancer patients.
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Percutaneous dilatation tracheostomy in the intensive care setting presents an increasingly important concept for establishing a large-bore tracheal airway with minimal surgical intervention. Over the last years, different technical solutions have been studied to assess their respective risks and benefits to determine whether one method is actually superior. A recent observational study comparing two such techniques prompted this commentary, which reviews the current literature, comments on study design and suggests interesting topics for future research in this field.