Intensive Care News and Research

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New generation of innovative medical devices to be created by Curie-Cancer and Vygon partnership

Curie-Cancer, the body responsible for developing Institut Curie’s industry partnership activities and Vygon, a French family-run business that develops, produces and markets medical devices, including catheters and implantable ports for administering chemotherapy treatments, today announce their partnership to develop a new generation of innovative medical devices; mainly for use in chemotherapy. The partnership aims to introduce them to European, the US and Asian markets.

16 Apr 2013

Does ICU remote monitoring save lives, money?

High in a Manhattan skyscraper near Grand Central Terminal on a recent Tuesday, 80 critically ill patients in intensive care units scattered from Georgia to New Jersey were being monitored, remotely, by a doctor scanning a dozen computer screens.

16 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 15, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the Medicare provisions in the budget plan released last week by President Barack Obama as well as previews of the Supreme Court's consideration of arguments regarding whether human genes can be patented.

15 Apr 2013

UTHealth study explores ways to reduce infant exposure to secondhand smoke

A study to investigate whether a hospital-initiated behavioral therapy program conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit can reduce secondhand smoke in homes with infants at risk for pulmonary problems has been launched by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

11 Apr 2013

Study: Using best-practice approach could lead to big cost reductions in hospitals nationwide

A major challenge facing today's health care community is to find ways to lower costs without compromising clinical quality. Taking that challenge to task, researchers at Medstar Health and Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington DC, report success in using a concept called "value-based analysis," which simultaneously measures quality and cost and addresses inefficiencies in care.

11 Apr 2013

Study shows copper objects in ICUs reduce healthcare-acquired infections by 50%

Placement of copper objects in intensive care unit (ICU) hospital rooms reduced the number of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) in patients by more than half, according to a new study published in the May issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, in a special topic issue focused on the role of the environment in infection prevention.

10 Apr 2013

More research needed to measure impact of co-infections on hospital admission

A study at Rhode Island Hospital has found that despite complications, patients co-infected with the pandemic 2009-2010 influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) and a second respiratory virus were not associated with worse outcomes or admission to the hospital's intensive care unit.

10 Apr 2013

Research: Reduced duty hours do not affect quality of care

Restructuring work hours for first-year medical residents to accommodate a 2011 duty hour limit of no more than 16 shift hours substantially increases patient handovers, but doesn't significantly affect efficiency and quality of care among medical inpatients, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study has found.

9 Apr 2013

K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital receives donation from Jeffrey and Suzanne Citron of Brielle

K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center is proud to announce a $700,000 donation from Jeffrey and Suzanne Citron of Brielle, in conjunction with the Charles Lafitte Foundation, in support of the pediatric expansion project.

9 Apr 2013

Tele-anesthesia can make OR care more efficient

A study exploring patterns of messages to anesthesiologists supervising care in operating rooms provides clues as to how hospitals might use "tele-anesthesia" technology to deploy anesthesia expertise and resources more efficiently, reports the April issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

9 Apr 2013

Handheld ultrasound devices: an interview with Warren Ortmann, Signostics

Ultrasound devices use sound waves to image the organs of the body safely, without the use of radiation. The sound waves are produced by applying a current to a piezoelectric crystal housed in a transducer. The crystal alters shape and creates a sound wave.

3 Apr 2013

Women over 40 need to be vigilant about contraception even in perimenopause

Women reaching the age of 40 tend to be less vigilant about birth control because they think the risk of pregnancy is low - or that birth control can cause health problems - but a review of the evidence by a team that includes a Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island physician recently underscored the need to be vigilant about contraception even in perimenopause.

26 Mar 2013

Research roundup: Number of nurses linked to NICU infections; Comparing Medicare budget plans

Neonatal intensive care units – which provide care for infants who are critically ill – are costly and require a significant amount of nursing services.

25 Mar 2013

New research may help clinicians determine factors that increase risk of blood clots after surgery

New research from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, published in the Journal of Surgical Research, may help clinicians determine which patients are at highest risk for post-surgical blood clots in the legs or lungs.

21 Mar 2013

Patient-centered end-of-life care results in happier patients who live longer, researchers find

New doctors take an oath to first do no harm, but physicians often go too far in their quest to keep that oath - exposing patients to aggressive treatments that don't improve outcomes and drive up healthcare costs.

21 Mar 2013

Eritoran drug does not reduce risk of death in patients with severe sepsis

Administration of the drug eritoran to patients with severe sepsis and septic shock failed to demonstrate a significant effect on reducing all-cause 28-day mortality or 1-year mortality, compared with placebo, according to a study in the March 20 issue of JAMA.

20 Mar 2013

Study finds significant variation over diuretics use in BPD patients

Even though there is little data to support the extended use of diuretic medications to help reduce fluid build-up in the lungs of premature infants, researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital have found significant variation in how babies receive these medications at hospitals across the nation.

20 Mar 2013

Study: Health of critically ill newborns is endangered by insufficient nurse staffing

A new study reveals that the health of critically ill newborns is endangered by insufficient nurse staffing. The national study finds that very few neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) provide sufficient numbers of nurses to meet guidelines and that the most vulnerable babies are also the most understaffed.

20 Mar 2013

Very low birth weight infants do not receive optimal nursing care, finds study

Very low birth weight infants, those weighing less than 3.25 pounds, account for half of infant deaths in the United States each year, yet a new study released in today's issue of JAMA-Pediatrics documents that these critically ill infants do not receive optimal nursing care, which can lead to hospital-acquired infections that double their death rate and may result in long-term developmental issues affecting the quality of their lives as adults.

19 Mar 2013

NHS intravenous (IV) fluids: an interview with Dr Ian Roberts, LSHTM

Saline is just salty water, whereas colloids are solutions that have large molecules in them. In this case, the molecules are starch. The idea is that because these molecules are big they don’t leak out of the circulation as much.

18 Mar 2013