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'Fresher' blood transfusion does not mean better outcomes

Blood that has been stored for 2 weeks or more before being used in transfusions for critically ill patients does not appear to cause adverse effects, report US researchers.

22 Oct 2012

Mother–baby intensive care admission carries high mortality risk

Mothers and newborns who are both admitted to an intensive care unit are significantly more likely to die than mother–baby pairs who are not, a study suggests.

22 Oct 2012

Pediatric ICU patients often receive off-label drug treatments

"Off label" drugs are medications that have not been tested for safety or efficacy for a specific patient age or condition. New research presented Oct. 21 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans found that off-label treatments were ordered for 96 percent of all pediatric patients, and 100 percent of patients ages 13-17, in the intensive care unit of an urban children's hospital.

22 Oct 2012

Microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs

The cabin of a spacecraft halfway to Mars would be the least convenient place -- one cannot say "on earth" -- for a Salmonella or Pneumococcus outbreak, but a wide-ranging new paper suggests that microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs.

22 Oct 2012

Research roundup: Financial impact of reducing surgical complications; Pay for performance to doctors, hospitals yields mixed results

The authors write: "We found that if a hospital's surgical inpatient volume is not growing, such a program results in negative cash flow. We also found that if a hospital's surgical volume is growing, and if the hospital can sufficiently reduce the average length-of-stay for surgical patients without complications, the cash flow could be positive. We recommend that hospitals with limited growth prospects that are nonetheless contemplating a surgical complication reduction program establish agreements with payers to share in any savings generated by the program."

20 Oct 2012

Coronary angioplasty improves survival in all patients with out of hospital cardiac arrest

Coronary angioplasty improves survival in all patients with out of hospital cardiac arrest, according to research presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2012. The study was presented by Dr Annamaria Nicolino from the Santa Corona General Hospital in Pietra Ligure, Italy.

20 Oct 2012

Daily sedation interruption does not benefit critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients

For critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, daily sedation interruption did not reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation or appear to offer any benefit to patients, and may have increased both sedation and analgesic use and nurse workload, according to a study appearing in JAMA.

19 Oct 2012

Chloride-restrictive intravenous fluids reduce risk for kidney injury

The restrictive use of chloride in intravenous fluids reduces the risk for acute kidney injury and renal replacement therapy, research shows.

18 Oct 2012

Intermediate-acting neuromuscular block use ‘needs revisiting’

The use of intermediate-acting neuromuscular blocking agents during general anesthesia may increase the risk for clinically meaningful respiratory complications, researchers report in the BMJ.

17 Oct 2012

Chloride-restrictive intravenous strategy may decrease incidence of AKI among critically ill patients

In a pilot study assessing the effect of different levels of chloride in intravenous fluids administered to critically ill patients in an intensive care unit, restricting the amount of chloride administration was associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of acute kidney injury and the use of renal replacement therapy, according to a study in the October 17 issue of JAMA.

17 Oct 2012

Cigarette smoke adversely affects the developing human airway

Research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2012 annual meeting revealed cigarette smoke adversely affects the developing human airway, especially in prematurity. Fetuses and premature babies exposed to cigarette smoke are at greater risk for developing childhood respiratory diseases, such as asthma.

16 Oct 2012

Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms in ICUs vary widely between hospitals

Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care units (ICUs) vary widely from hospital to hospital, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing and published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.

16 Oct 2012

Saint Raphael Campus of Yale New Haven Hospital honored for achievements in eliminating HAIs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) today recognized the Saint Raphael Campus of Yale New Haven Hospital with the 2012 Partnership in Prevention Award for achieving the greatest sustainable improvements towards eliminating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

16 Oct 2012

Medicare penalties for hospital-acquired infections didn't cut infection rate, study finds

The research, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the effect of a 2008 change that cut payments to hospitals for treating infections that patients received while hospitalized.

12 Oct 2012

Recommendations in pediatric palliative care

The future of pediatric and perinatal palliative care should include accepting parents’ need for proximity to the child, combining the strategies of palliative and intensive care physicians, improving healthcare providers’ listening skills, and involving multiple disciplines, recommend researchers.

11 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 11, 2012

Today's headlines include previews of how Medicare and other health policy issues might playin tonight's vice presidential debate.

11 Oct 2012

Study identifies need for better definitions and diagnostic tools for sports head injuries

In recent years it has become clear that athletes who experience repeated impacts to the head may be at risk of potentially serious neurological and psychiatric problems. But a study of sports programs at three major universities, published in the October 2 Journal of Neurosurgery, finds that the way the injury commonly called concussion is usually diagnosed - largely based on athletes' subjective symptoms - varies greatly and may not be the best way to determine who is at risk for future problems.

11 Oct 2012

Intensive Care News and Research

'Fresher' blood transfusion does not mean better outcomes

Mother–baby intensive care admission carries high mortality risk

Pediatric ICU patients often receive off-label drug treatments

Microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs

Research roundup: Financial impact of reducing surgical complications; Pay for performance to doctors, hospitals yields mixed results

Coronary angioplasty improves survival in all patients with out of hospital cardiac arrest

Daily sedation interruption does not benefit critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients

Chloride-restrictive intravenous fluids reduce risk for kidney injury

Intermediate-acting neuromuscular block use ‘needs revisiting’

Chloride-restrictive intravenous strategy may decrease incidence of AKI among critically ill patients

Cigarette smoke adversely affects the developing human airway

Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms in ICUs vary widely between hospitals

Saint Raphael Campus of Yale New Haven Hospital honored for achievements in eliminating HAIs

Medicare penalties for hospital-acquired infections didn't cut infection rate, study finds

Recommendations in pediatric palliative care

First Edition: October 11, 2012

Study identifies need for better definitions and diagnostic tools for sports head injuries

Transfused blood age does not impact outcomes in premature babies

Early communication strategies improve end of liver transplant patients’ lives

Best-practices protocol significantly reduces ventilator-associated pneumonia

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

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