Intensive Care News and Research

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In the ICU, use of benzodiazepines, other factors may predict severity of post-stay depression

Psychiatrists and critical care specialists at Johns Hopkins have begun to tease out what there is about a stay in an intensive care unit (ICU) that leads so many patients to report depression after they go home.

12 Apr 2009

Haemofiltration significantly reduces ECMO duration in newborns

Haemofiltration has already been shown to improve fluid balance in children treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) but now researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care have reported that continuous haemofiltration significantly reduces ECMO duration in newborns.

1 Apr 2009

Combat injuries: A matter of life and death

Orthopaedic surgeons play a crucial role in the care of active duty military personnel according to a Forum article in the April 2009 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).

1 Apr 2009

What patients really think of intensive care unit follow-up services

Former patients believe that intensive care unit (ICU) follow-up services are important for their physical, emotional and psychological recovery.

1 Apr 2009

Coronary angiography improves outcomes for cardiac arrest patients

People who suffer cardiac arrests and then receive coronary angiography are twice as likely to survive without significant brain damage compared with those who don't have the procedure, according to a study by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers.

1 Apr 2009

Regular handwashing more important than isolation in controlling MRSA infection

Regular handwashing by hospital staff and visitors did more to prevent the spread of the MRSA superbug than isolating infected patients.

30 Mar 2009

New Lantheus study finds significant survival benefit for critically ill patients undergoing contrast-enhanced echocardiography

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc has announced new data regarding the use of DEFINITY Vial For (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension.

29 Mar 2009

Trial looks at intensive insulin therapy risks

Intensive insulin therapy is used in many intensive care units around the world as a means to tightly regulate blood sugar.

24 Mar 2009

New study set to change how critically ill patients are treated

The current practice of intensively lowering blood glucose in critically ill patients increases the risk of death by 10%.

24 Mar 2009

Exercise therapy benefits ICU patients

An exercise program developed at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center aimed at helping patients in the medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) maintain physical conditioning is a featured 'Innovation Profile' on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Web site.

23 Mar 2009

Environmental cleaning intervention reduces MRSA in intensive care units

A rigorous environmental cleaning intervention can reduce the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other multidrug-resistant organisms in hospital intensive care units (ICUs), according to a new study released today at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

22 Mar 2009

Ultraviolet light cuts spread of tuberculosis

Ultraviolet lights could reduce the spread of tuberculosis in hospital wards and waiting rooms by 70%, according to a new study, published in PLoS Medicine today.

16 Mar 2009

Review of hospital infection control strategies

Hand-washing, a clean environment, appropriate infection barriers and early identification of patients at high risk of colonization with a transmissible microorganism remain the essential measures to prevent and control infection.

16 Mar 2009

Estrogen activates critical lung genes to improve lung function following preterm birth

Estrogen may be a new postnatal therapy to improve lung function and other outcomes in preterm infants, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study.

12 Mar 2009

Diagnostic errors: The new focus of patient safety experts

Johns Hopkins patient safety experts say it's high time for diagnostic errors to get the same attention from medical institutions and caregivers as drug-prescribing errors, wrong-site surgeries and hospital-acquired infections.

11 Mar 2009

Studies investigate end-of-life healthcare

Patients with advanced cancer who discuss end-of-life care with their physicians appear to have lower health care costs in the final week of life than those who do not, according to a report in the March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Mar 2009

Racial disparities in ER length of stay point to added risks for minority patients

Sick or injured African-American patients wait about an hour longer than patients of other races before being transferred to an inpatient hospital bed following emergency room visits, according to a new national study published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.

5 Mar 2009

Mobile phones belonging to hospital workers covered in bugs

Mobile phone handsets belonging to hospital workers are covered in bacteria including the 'superbug', MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ).

5 Mar 2009

GE invents intelligent wireless medical sensing platform

GE Global Research has announced that scientists have transformed a common and commercially available GE sensor for home security into an innovative, intelligent wireless medical sensing platform. If successful, this new platform could dramatically improve neonatal and home patient monitoring.

4 Mar 2009