Respiratory care
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
GAS6 IN ARDS PATIENTS: DETERMINATION OF PLASMA LEVELS AND INFLUENCE OF PEEP SETTING.
Growth-arrest-specific protein 6 (GAS6) is a vitamin K-dependent protein expressed by endothelial cells and leukocytes participating in cell survival, migration and proliferation and involved in many pathological situations. The aim of our study was to assess its implication in ARDS and its variation according to PEEP setting, considering that different cyclic stresses could alter GAS6 plasma levels. ⋯ GAS6 plasma level is elevated in ARDS patients. The high-PEEP strategy is associated with a decrease in GAS6 and IL-8 plasma levels at day 3, without significant differences in day 28 mortality between the 2 groups. (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00188058).
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Review Meta Analysis
Benefits of early tracheotomy: a meta-analysis based on six observational studies.
Whether early tracheotomy can improve the clinical outcomes of critically ill patients remains controversial. The current study aimed to discuss the potential benefits of early tracheotomy compared to late tracheotomy with meta-analysis of observational studies. ⋯ Our meta-analysis of retrospective observational studies suggests that early tracheotomy performed between days 3 and 7 after intubation had some advantages, including decreased mortality and reduced ICU stay, hospital stay, and mechanical ventilation duration in ICU patients.
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Aerosol therapy continues to be considered as one of the cornerstones of the profession of respiratory care, even after 60 years. Aerosol therapy serves as a critical intervention for both exacerbations and chronic maintenance for a variety of respiratory care conditions. Aerosol therapy uniquely blends both the art and science of medicine together to produce the practical and necessary clinical outcomes for patients with respiratory diseases. This review was presented as part of the New Horizons Symposium on how to guide the scientific selection of an appropriate aerosol device.
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Comparative Study
"In vitro" evaluation of Heat and Moisture Exchangers designed for spontaneous breathing tracheostomized patients.
Heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) are commonly used in chronically tracheostomized spontaneously breathing patients, to condition inhaled air, maintain lower airway function, and minimize the viscosity of secretions. Supplemental oxygen (O2) can be added to most HMEs designed for spontaneously breathing tracheostomized patients. We tested the efficiency of 7 HMEs designed for spontaneously breathing tracheostomized patients, in a normothermic model, at different minute ventilations (VE) and supplemental O2 flows. ⋯ The efficiency of HMEs in terms of temperature and absolute humidity is significantly affected by O2 supplementation and V(E).