Articles: function.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2015
Therapeutic Potential of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Peritonitis Induced by Polymicrobial Insult in Sprague-Dawley Rats.
Peritonitis is a life-threatening disease that is associated with high mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine if cerium oxide nanoparticles can be used to diminish intra-abdominal infection-induced mortality and systemic inflammatory response syndrome in the laboratory rat. ⋯ Cerium oxide nanoparticles attenuate the systemic inflammatory response associated with peritonitis, suggesting potential use as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of severe intra-abdominal infection.
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The aim of every patient with hip fracture is to regain previous function but we know little about the outcome, especially patient-reported outcome. We wanted to investigate what factors influence the result one year after hip fracture, including fast-track for hip fracture patients, as well as investigating the patients' satisfaction with their rehabilitation and to what degree they regained their pre-fracture function. ⋯ General complications seem to be the major risk factor, being the only factor affecting functional outcome and together with local complications affecting pain and satisfaction. To avoid general complications, co-operation between orthopaedic surgeons and internists may be crucial in the aftercare of hip fracture patients. A majority did not receive adequate rehabilitation and efforts need to be made to improve the rehabilitation process.
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2015
Comparative StudyCorticosteroid Therapy Benefits Septic Mice With Adrenal Insufficiency But Harms Septic Mice Without Adrenal Insufficiency.
Corticosteroid therapy is frequently used in septic patients given the rationale that there is an increased demand for corticosteroid in sepsis, and up to 60% of severe septic patients experience adrenal insufficiency. However, the efficacy of corticosteroid therapy and whether the therapy should be based on the results of adrenal function testing are highly controversial. The lack of an adrenal insufficiency animal model and our poor understanding of the pathogenesis caused by adrenal insufficiency present significant barriers to address this long-standing clinical issue. ⋯ This study demonstrates that corticosteroid treatment benefits mice with adrenal insufficiency but harms mice without adrenal insufficiency. This study also reveals that inducible corticosteroid has both immunosuppressive and immunopermissive properties, suppressing interleukin-6 production, promoting phagocytosis of immune effector cells, but not inducing peripheral lymphocyte apoptosis. These findings support our hypothesis that corticosteroid is an effective therapy for a subgroup of septic patients with adrenal insufficiency but harms septic patients without adrenal insufficiency and encourage further efforts to test this hypothesis in clinic.