Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
-
Review Meta Analysis
Updating the evidence for the role of corticosteroids in severe sepsis and septic shock: a Bayesian meta-analytic perspective.
Current low (stress) dose corticosteroid regimens may have therapeutic advantage in severe sepsis and septic shock despite conflicting results from two landmark randomised controlled trials (RCT). We systematically reviewed the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy in severe sepsis and septic shock. ⋯ Although a null effect for mortality treatment efficacy of low dose corticosteroid therapy in severe sepsis and septic shock was not excluded, there remained a high probability of treatment efficacy, more so with outlier exclusion. Similarly, although a null effect was not excluded, advantageous effects of low dose steroids had a high probability of dependence upon patient underlying risk. Low dose steroid efficacy was not demonstrated in corticotrophin non-responders. Further large-scale trials appear mandated.
-
Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Cerebrospinal fluid lactate concentration to distinguish bacterial from aseptic meningitis: a systemic review and meta-analysis.
Making a differential diagnosis between bacterial meningitis and aseptic meningitis is a critical clinical problem. The utility of a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactate assay for this purpose has been debated and is not yet routinely clinically performed. To adequately evaluate this assay, a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of the CSF lactate concentration as a marker for both bacterial meningitis and aseptic meningitis was performed. ⋯ To distinguish bacterial meningitis from aseptic meningitis, CSF lactate is a good single indicator and a better marker compared to other conventional markers.
-
Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Effect of histamine-2-receptor antagonists versus sucralfate on stress ulcer prophylaxis in mechanically ventilated patients: a meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials.
We conducted a meta-analysis in order to investigate the effect of histamine-2-receptor antagonists (H2RA) versus sucralfate on stress ulcer prophylaxis in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). ⋯ In patients with mechanical ventilation, H2RA resulted in no differential effectiveness in treating overt bleeding, but had higher rates of gastric colonization and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Additional RCTs of stress ulcer prophylaxis with H2RA and sucralfate are needed to establish the net benefit and risks of adverse effect in mechanically ventilated patients.
-
It has been hypothesized that hyperoncotic colloids might contribute to acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the validity of this hypothesis remains unclear. ⋯ This meta-analysis does not support the hypothesis that hyperoncotic colloid solutions per se injure the kidney. Renal effects appear instead to be colloid-specific, with albumin displaying renoprotection and HES showing nephrotoxicity.