Articles: critical-illness.
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AACN Clin Issues Crit Care Nurs · Nov 1991
Case ReportsBenzodiazepine sedation in critically ill patients.
Agitation is a common phenomenon in critically ill patients. This multidimensional challenge can prolong illness, interfere with treatment, and harm the patient. The nurse must assess the cause of the agitation and provide effective, timely intervention. ⋯ With astute assessment and intervention, agitation can be prevented and treated to enhance recovery from critical illness. Benzodiazepines are an effective treatment intervention for agitation. With thorough knowledge of the actions and potential effects of these drugs, the nurse can provide the best pharmacologic intervention to treat agitation in the critically ill patient.
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Review Comparative Study
Transesophageal two-dimensional echocardiography in the critically ill--is the Swan-Ganz catheter redundant?
Swan-Ganz catheterization can facilitate intra-operative management of critically ill patients. The derived data lacks specificity, however, and, as such, is frequently misleading. This disadvantage, combined with recent advances in echocardiography imaging techniques, has resulted in increasing application of transesophageal (TE) two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-echo) to supplement and, in instances, to supplant conventional cardiac monitoring. ⋯ In contrast, corresponding estimates of LV ejection fraction correlate closely with overall performance, at least in cases without asynergy. Finally, the capacity of TE 2D-echo to detect LV regional wall-motion abnormalities can be particularly useful. Such abnormalities commonly represent early manifestations of ischemia and can, in addition, be predictive of subsequent outcome.