Articles: neurocritical-care.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Apr 2024
ReviewTen good reasons to consider gastrointestinal function after acute brain injury.
The brain-gut axis represents a bidirectional communication linking brain function with the gastrointestinal (GI) system. This interaction comprises a top-down communication from the brain to the gut, and a bottom-up communication from the gut to the brain, including neural, endocrine, immune, and humoral signaling. Acute brain injury (ABI) can lead to systemic complications including GI dysfunction. ⋯ Despite novel biomarkers represent a limitation in clinical practice, intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is easy-to-use and measurable at bedside. Increased IAP can be both cause and consequence of GI dysfunction, and it can influence cerebral perfusion pressure and intracranial pressure via physiological mechanisms. Here, we address ten good reasons to consider GI function in patients with ABI, highlighting the importance of its assessment in neurocritical care.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Apr 2024
Autonomic dysfunction as a predictor of infection in neurocritical care unit: a prospective cohort study.
Infection in the neurocritical care unit ( NCCU) can cause significant mortality and morbidity. Autonomic nervous system plays an important role in defense against infection. Autonomic dysfunction causing inflammatory dysregulation can potentiate infection. We aimed to study the relationship between autonomic dysfunction and occurrence of infection in neurologically ill patients. ⋯ AD assessment can be used as a tool to predict development of infection in NCCU. This can help triage and institute early investigation and treatment.
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Moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI) carries high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Accurate neuroprognostication is essential in guiding clinical decisions, including patient triage and transition to comfort measures. Here we provide recommendations regarding the reliability of major clinical predictors and prediction models commonly used in msTBI neuroprognostication, guiding clinicians in counseling surrogate decision-makers. ⋯ These guidelines provide recommendations to clinicians on the formal reliability of individual predictors and prediction models of poor outcome when counseling surrogates of patients with msTBI and suggest broad principles of neuroprognostication.
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Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (cPOCUS) can aid in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disorders. Such disorders can arise as complications of acute brain injury, but most neurologic intensive care unit (NICU) providers do not receive formal training in cPOCUS. Caption artificial intelligence (AI) uses a novel deep learning (DL) algorithm to guide novice cPOCUS users in obtaining diagnostic-quality cardiac images. The primary objective of this study was to determine how often NICU providers with minimal cPOCUS experience capture quality images using DL-guided cPOCUS as well as the association between DL-guided cPOCUS and change in management and time to formal echocardiograms in the NICU. ⋯ With DL guidance, neurology providers with minimal to no cPOCUS training were often able to obtain diagnostic-quality cardiac images, which informed management changes and significantly decreased time to cardiac imaging.
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Critical care medicine · Mar 2024
A Modified Delphi Consensus Approach to Define Entrustable Professional Activities for Neurocritical Care Advanced Practice Providers.
To define consensus entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for neurocritical care (NCC) advanced practice providers (APPs), establish validity evidence for the EPAs, and evaluate factors that inform entrustment expectations of NCC APP supervisors. ⋯ Expert consensus was used to create EPAs for NCC APPs that reached a predefined quality standard and were important to most clinicians in different practice settings. We did not identify variables that significantly predicted entrustment expectations. These EPAs may aid in curricular design for an EPA-based assessment of new NCC APPs and may inform the development of EPAs for APPs in other critical care subspecialties.