Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Oct 2012
Review Meta AnalysisThe present use of quality indicators in the intensive care unit.
Quality indicators (QIs) are increasingly used in medicine in order to compare and eventually to improve quality of delivered health care. During the last decade, QIs also have been used within intensive care medicine. This paper shortly describes this development and gives an overview of QIs in the intensive care unit (ICU) reported to be in use at national level. ⋯ All primarily used a physician-driven process to select national QIs. This survey reveals that the concept of QIs is perceived differently throughout countries, also within developed countries in Western Europe. At present, it will be difficult to use national QIs to compare the quality of intensive care between countries.
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Curr. Opin. Pediatr. · Oct 2012
Review Meta AnalysisScreening for critical congenital heart disease: advancing detection in the newborn.
Screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) using pulse oximetry was added to the recommended uniform screening panel through an endorsement by the Health and Human Services Secretary in September 2011. As organizations on both the macrolevels and microlevels consider implementation, research efforts and professional endorsements have been completed, providing important guidance moving forward. ⋯ CCHD screening is easily implemented in community hospitals, and is cost effective, and some states may be better prepared for implementation than previously hypothesized.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2012
Review Meta AnalysisEfficacy of information interventions in reducing transfer anxiety from a critical care setting to a general ward: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Our aim was to undertake a comprehensive systematic review on the efficacy of information interventions on reducing anxiety in patients and family members on transfer from a critical care setting to a general ward. ⋯ Providing information to understand a future ward environment can significantly reduce patients' and family members' transfer anxiety from the critical care setting when compared with standard care.
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Journal of critical care · Aug 2012
Review Meta AnalysisPrognostic value of extravascular lung water index in critically ill patients: a systematic review of the literature.
The prognostic value of extravascular lung water (EVLW) has been widely investigated; however, a wide range of its predictive accuracy has been reported. ⋯ The EVLWI appears to be a good predictor of mortality in critically ill patients.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2012
Meta AnalysisUnplanned endotracheal extubations in the intensive care unit: systematic review, critical appraisal, and evidence-based recommendations.
In this study, we updated the state of knowledge on unplanned tracheal extubations in the intensive care unit. We focused on the following topics: incidence, risk factors, reintubation after unplanned extubation, outcomes, and prevention. Based on this review, recommendations were made for preventing unplanned extubations. ⋯ Despite numerous publications on unplanned extubation, few studies assess preventive strategies for adverse events, and few clinical trials have assessed unplanned extubations. Recommendations are proposed based on the currently available literature.