Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Intracerebral hemorrhage is by far the most destructive form of stroke. The clinical presentation is characterized by a rapidly deteriorating neurological exam coupled with signs and symptoms of elevated intracranial pressure. The diagnosis is easily established by the use of computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. ⋯ Ventricular drainage should be performed urgently in all stuporous or comatose patients with intraventricular blood and acute hydrocephalus. Emergent surgical evacuation or hemicraniectomy should be considered for patients with large (>3 cm) cerebellar hemorrhages, and in those with large lobar hemorrhages, significant mass effect, and a deteriorating neurological exam. Apart from management in a specialized stroke or neurological intensive care unit, no specific medical therapies have been shown to consistently improve outcome after intracerebral hemorrhage.
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Hemorrhagic shock is a leading cause of death in trauma patients worldwide. Bleeding control, maintenance of tissue oxygenation with fluid resuscitation, coagulation support, and maintenance of normothermia remain mainstays of therapy for patients with hemorrhagic shock. Although now widely practised as standard in the USA and Europe, shock resuscitation strategies involving blood replacement and fluid volume loading to regain tissue perfusion and oxygenation vary between trauma centers; the primary cause of this is the scarcity of published evidence and lack of randomized controlled clinical trials. ⋯ This review points out new therapeutic strategies, namely immunomodulation, cardiovascular maintenance, small volume resuscitation, and so on, that have been introduced in clinics or are in the process of being transferred from bench to bedside. Control of hemorrhage in the earliest phases of care, recognition and monitoring of individual risk factors, and therapeutic modulation of the inflammatory immune response will probably constitute the next generation of therapy in hemorrhagic shock. Further randomized controlled multicenter clinical trials are needed that utilize standardized criteria for enrolling patients, but existing ethical requirements must be maintained.
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Mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who require intubation or support with inotropes in an intensive care unit setting remains extremely high (up to 50%). Systematic use of objective severity-of-illness criteria, such as the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), British Thoracic Society CURB-65 (an acronym meaning Confusion, Urea, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure, age >/=65 years), or criteria developed by the Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society, to aid site-of-care decisions for pneumonia patients is emerging as a step forward in patient management. Experience with the Predisposition, Infection, Response, and Organ dysfunction (PIRO) score, which incorporates key signs and symptoms of sepsis and important CAP risk factors, may represent an improvement in staging severe CAP. In addition, it has been suggested that implementing a simple care bundle in the emergency department will improve management of CAP, using five evidence-based variables, with immediate pulse oxymetry and oxygen assessment as the cornerstone and initial step of treatment.
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Mechanical ventilation is the defining event of intensive care unit (ICU) management. Although it is a life saving intervention in patients with acute respiratory failure and other disease entities, a major goal of critical care clinicians should be to liberate patients from mechanical ventilation as early as possible to avoid the multitude of complications and risks associated with prolonged unnecessary mechanical ventilation, including ventilator induced lung injury, ventilator associated pneumonia, increased length of ICU and hospital stay, and increased cost of care delivery. This review highlights the recent developments in assessing and testing for readiness of liberation from mechanical ventilation, the etiology of weaning failure, the value of weaning protocols, and a simple practical approach for liberation from mechanical ventilation.
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We summarize original research in the field of critical care nephrology that was accepted for publication or published in 2007 in Critical Care and, when considered relevant or directly linked to this research, in other journals. Four main topics were identified for a brief overview. ⋯ The third area selected for review is outcomes of acute kidney injury during the past 10 years, described by a recent Australian epidemiological study. Finally, specific technical features of renal replacement therapies were examined in 2007, specifically regarding anticoagulation and vascular access.