Resp Care
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Literature searches are essential to evidence-based respiratory care. To conduct literature searches, respiratory therapists rely on search engines to retrieve information, but there is a dearth of literature on the comparative efficiencies of search engines for researching clinical questions in respiratory care. ⋯ Our results suggest that PubMed searches with the Clinical Queries filter are more precise than with the Advanced Scholar Search in Google Scholar for respiratory care topics. PubMed appears to be more practical to conduct efficient, valid searches for informing evidence-based patient-care protocols, for guiding the care of individual patients, and for educational purposes.
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Comparative Study
Echocardiography, 6-minute walk distance, and distance-saturation product as predictors of pulmonary arterial hypertension in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is frequently seen in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We sought to examine the performance of echocardiography, 6-min walk test (6MWT) distance, distance-saturation product (DSP), and pulse oximetry (SpO2) in detecting underlying PAH in IPF. ⋯ Right-ventricle systolic pressure measured by echocardiography, by 6MWT distance, by DSP, or by SpO2 performs poorly in detecting PAH in IPF. Measured by right heart catheterization, right-ventricle systolic pressure performs better to predict PAH in IPF.
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Editorial Comment
Spontaneous breathing trials: should we use automatic tube compensation?
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A prospective randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of noninvasive ventilation in severe acute asthma.
Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is an emerging modality in the management of patients with acute respiratory failure. However, its role in severe acute asthma is not well defined. ⋯ In patients with severe acute asthma, the addition of NIV to standard medical therapy probably accelerates the improvement in lung function, decreases the inhaled bronchodilator requirement, and shortens the ICU and hospital stay, but a larger study is required to settle this issue.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison between automatic tube compensation and continuous positive airway pressure during spontaneous breathing trials.
Various methods to perform spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs) exist, but no one method has been shown to be superior. Automatic tube compensation (ATC) is a new and potentially advantageous ventilation mode to use during SBT. We compared ATC to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during SBTs, to determine their efficacy in identifying patients ready to be liberated from mechanical ventilation. ⋯ When applied as part of a respiratory-therapist-driven weaning protocol in a general intensive-care population, SBTs with ATC were safe but did not hasten liberation from mechanical ventilation, when compared to CPAP.