Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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ABSTRACT: Management of acute respiratory failure is an important component of intensive care. In this review, we analyze 21 original research articles published last year in Critical Care in the field of respiratory and critical care medicine. The articles are summarized according to the following topic categories: acute respiratory distress syndrome, mechanical ventilation, adjunctive therapies, and pneumonia.
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In 2011, numerous studies were published in Critical Care focusing on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, trauma, and some related airway, respiratory, and response time factors. In this review, we summarize several of these studies, including those that brought forth advances in therapies for the post-resuscitative period. ⋯ There were also articles pertaining to the importance of timing in prehospital airway management, the outcome impact of hyperoxia, and the timing of end-tidal carbon dioxide measurements to predict futility in cardiac arrest resuscitation. In other articles, additional perspectives were provided on the classic correlations between emergency medical service response intervals and outcomes.
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ABSTRACT: There is an ever-growing importance for critical assessment of benefits and harms of various strategies with regards to antibiotic stewardship, infection control, molecular detection of pathogens and adequate treatment of multidrug-resistant organisms in ICUs. Ongoing financial constraints globally, changing demographics with an increasing and aging population and the slow introduction of new antibiotics make the utilisation of the best available evidence and goal-directed strategies essential in the ICU setting. This review will summarise findings from some of the recent major publications in the area of infectious diseases with emphasis on the role of behaviour change strategies for infection control purposes, the role of biomarkers such as C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, and the impact of molecular diagnostics in clinical decision-making. Furthermore, we will update readers on some recent findings in relation to invasive fungal infections, community-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia in ICU patients.
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Bench-to-bedside review: Citrate for continuous renal replacement therapy, from science to practice.
To prevent clotting in the extracorporeal circuit during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) anticoagulation is required. Heparin is still the most commonly used anticoagulant. However, heparins increase the risk of bleeding, especially in critically ill patients. ⋯ The use of citrate may also be associated with less inflammation due to hypocalcemia-induced suppression of intracellular signaling at the membrane and avoidance of heparin, which may have proinflammatory properties. Whether these beneficial effects increase patient survival needs to be confirmed. However, other benefits are the reason that citrate should become the first choice anticoagulant for CRRT provided that its safe use can be guaranteed.