Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Observational Study
Hallucinations and disturbed behaviour in the critically ill: incidence, patient characteristics, associations, trajectory, and outcomes.
To use natural language processing (NLP) to study the incidence, characteristics, trajectory, associations, and outcomes of hallucinations and disturbed behaviour in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. ⋯ Hallucinations affect one in 12 ICU patients and are strongly associated with disturbed behaviour, and the use of antipsychotic medications. Hallucinations may represent another phenotype of critical illness associated neurocognitive dysfunction and require a dedicated research program.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Ulinastatin treatment mitigates glycocalyx degradation and associated with lower postoperative delirium risk in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a multicentre observational study.
Ulinastatin (UTI), recognized for its anti-inflammatory properties, holds promise for patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between intraoperative UTI administration and the incidence of delirium following cardiac surgery. ⋯ UTI administration may mitigate glycocalyx degradation, potentially lowering the risk of POD in cardiac surgery patients, offering valuable insights for future interventions to prevent POD and enhance patient outcomes. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov (No. NCT06268249). Retrospectively registered 4 February 2024.
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The role that sleep patterns play in sepsis risk remains poorly understood. ⋯ Findings from this cohort study suggest that a healthy sleep pattern may reduce the risk of developing sepsis, particularly among younger individuals.
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Oxygen therapy is ubiquitous in critical illness but oxygenation targets to guide therapy remain controversial despite several large randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Findings from RCTs evaluating different approaches to oxygen therapy in critical illness present a confused picture for several reasons. Differences in both oxygen target measures (e.g. oxygen saturation or partial pressure) and the numerical thresholds used to define lower and higher targets complicate comparisons between trials. ⋯ This narrative review aims to make the case that such heterogeneity is likely in relation to oxygen therapy for critically ill patients and that this has significant implications for the design and interpretation of trials of oxygen therapy in this context. HTE for oxygen therapy amongst critically ill patients may explain the contrasting results from different clinical trials of oxygen therapy. Individualised oxygen therapy may overcome this challenge, and future studies should incorporate ways to evaluate this approach.