Crit Care Resusc
-
The benefit of intravenous sodium bicarbonate administration in patients with severe metabolic acidosis remains controversial, partly due to lack of double-blind trials. From a practical viewpoint, such blinding requires testing of the stability of sodium bicarbonate in polyolefin bags. ⋯ When 100 mL of 8.4% sodium bicarbonate are diluted in 150 mL of normal saline within a 250 mL polyolefin bag, changes in pH and Pco2 over a 48-hour period are small and bicarbonate concentration remains stable.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Sodium bicarbonate in 5% dextrose: can clinicians tell the difference?
Due to the lack of double-blind randomised controlled trials, the true effect of intravenous sodium bicarbonate therapy in ICU patients with metabolic acidosis remains unclear. ⋯ When 100 mL of 8.4% sodium bicarbonate were diluted in 150 mL of D5W within a 250 mL polyolefin bag, clinicians were unable to correctly identify the contents of the bags. Our findings imply that sodium bicarbonate therapy can be successfully blinded.
-
Observational Study
Autonomic function, postprandial hypotension and falls in older adults at one year after critical illness.
Postprandial hypotension occurs frequently in older survivors of critical illness at 3 months after discharge. We aimed to determine whether postprandial hypotension and its predictors - gastric dysmotility and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction - persist or resolve as older survivors of critical illness recover, and whether postprandial hypotension after intensive care unit (ICU) discharge is associated with adverse outcomes at 12 months. ⋯ In older adults who were evaluated 3 and 12 months after ICU discharge, postprandial hypotension at 3 months was associated with an increased risk of subsequent falls, but the prevalence of postprandial hypotension decreased with time.
-
Pleural effusions in the intensive care unit (ICU) are clinically important. However, there is limited information regarding effusions in such patients. We aimed to estimate the prevalence, patient characteristics, mortality, effusion duration, radiological resolution, drainage, and reaccumulation rates of pleural effusions in ICU patients. ⋯ Pleural effusions are common in ICU patients and drainage is infrequent. One-third of effusions reaccumulate, even after drainage, and one in six patients with an effusion die in hospital. This information helps clinicians estimate resolution rates, advantages and disadvantages of effusion drainage, and overall prognosis.
-
Inhaled nitric oxide has been used for 30 years to improve oxygenation and decrease pulmonary vascular resistance. In the past 15 years, there has been increased understanding of the role of endogenous nitric oxide on cell surface receptors, mitochondria, and intracellular processes involving calcium and superoxide radicals. This has led to several animal and human experiments revealing a potential role for administered nitric oxide or nitric oxide donors in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome or ischaemia-reperfusion injury, and in patients for whom exposure of blood to artificial surfaces has occurred.