Critical Care News and Research

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Chemical found in medical devices impairs heart function

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that a chemical commonly used in the production of such medical plastic devices as intravenous (IV) bags and catheters can impair heart function in rats.

3 May 2009

Athletes with asthma need more help from their team trainers

Very few athletic trainers associated with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) programs said that they were following best practice standards for managing asthma among their athletes, according to a new study.

30 Apr 2009

Risk factors identified for ventilator-associated pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the main cause of nosocomial infection in patients undergoing major heart surgery.

29 Apr 2009

Senior men more likely than women to die after pneumonia

Differing biological response to infection between men and women may explain higher death rates among older men who are hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

29 Apr 2009

Link found between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity

Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels, according to a study that will appear in the first issue for May of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

23 Apr 2009

Children as young as five with life threatening anorexia

New research by Australian experts has revealed that children as young as five are being treated for eating disorders - the researchers say in some cases the eating disorder has reached the stage that forced feeding becomes necessary in order to save their lives.

20 Apr 2009

Somanetics announces new FDA 510(K) clearance

Somanetics Corporation has announced a new 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the labeling for its INVOS(R) Cerebral/Somatic Oximeter.

16 Apr 2009

New updated clinical guidelines for HIV-associated opportunistic infections

The first complete update in five years of the U.S. guidelines for preventing and treating HIV-associated opportunistic infections has been released by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in cooperation with the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

16 Apr 2009

Treating sleep disorders in people with traumatic brain injury may not eliminate symptoms

A study in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is the first to assess the effectiveness of treating sleep disorders in adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

15 Apr 2009

Slow-release anesthetic drug-delivery could change pain management

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a slow-release anesthetic drug-delivery system that could potentially revolutionize treatment of pain during and after surgery, and may also have a large impact on chronic pain management.

15 Apr 2009

Single injection could treat pain days, weeks, maybe even months

15 Apr 2009

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

Prescription heartburn medications do not ease asthma symptoms

The predominance of heartburn among asthma sufferers led many specialists to suspect that acid reflux could be a trigger for the coughing, wheezing and breathlessness of asthma.

9 Apr 2009

Managing pain in the ICU

Managing pain in the ICU is an ongoing and significant challenge for the critical care team.

8 Apr 2009

Cigarette smoke changes the immune response to bacteria - culprit behind COPD exacerbations

Smoking cigarettes is not only the principle cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but it may change the body's immune responses to bacteria that commonly cause exacerbations of the disease, according to new research in a mouse model.

8 Apr 2009

Simple bedside test improves diagnosis of chronic back pain, could guide treatment

A simple and inexpensive method of assessing pain, developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, is better than currently used techniques for distinguishing neuropathic pain - pain caused by damage to the nervous system - from other types of chronic back pain.

6 Apr 2009

Fluorescent anesthetic compound brings new avenues for drug discovery

A collaboration of University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin chemists and anesthesiologists have identified a fluorescent anesthetic compound that will assist researchers in obtaining more precise information about how anesthetics work in the body and will provide a means to more rapidly test new anesthetic compounds in the search for safer and more effective drugs.

6 Apr 2009

Study looks at long-term benefits of the Wingspan stent

Rush University Medical Center is participating in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study to determine the best course of treatment to reduce the risk of stroke patients suffering another stroke.

2 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