Background. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) are crucial to optimize antimicrobial utilization in critical care. Prospective audit and feedback is the major intervention used by stewardship programs, yet the impact on clinicians’ antimicrobial prescribing behaviours outside of the stewardship environment is unknown. We sought to understand if skills learned during prospective audit and ...

BACKGROUND Critical illness myopathy is an acquired skeletal muscle disorder with severe myosin loss and muscle weakness frequently seen in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. It is unknown if impaired excitation-contraction coupling contributes to the muscle weakness. METHODS We used a unique ICU model where rats were deeply sedated, post-synaptically pharmacologically paralyzed, mechanicall...

development of antibiotic resistance in intensive care units (icus) is a worldwide problem. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an antibiotic stewardship program (asp) by carbapenems restriction on gram-negative antimicrobial resistance in icu. the study was designed in a 21 bedded general icu of a teaching hospital with two wings (one and two) in tehran, iran. carbapenem pr...

introduction: as a key member of the healthcare workforce, nurses play an important role in patient care. n ursing care performance, especially sterilization, is of significant importance in provision of health and prevention of complications such as hospital infections. this study aimed to investigate nurses’ performance concerning sterilization while performing nursing techniques in icu wards...

Intensive Care Units (ICU) acquired Pneumonia (ICU-AP) is one of the most frequent nosocomial infections in critically ill patients. Our aim was to determine effects having an ICU-AP immunosuppressed patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. Post-hoc analysis a multinational, prospective cohort study 16 countries. ICU. Immunosuppressed None. The original had 1611 and this post-hoc tota...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW There are many new and exciting studies in the sedation literature. Recent studies of new scoring systems to monitor sedation, new medications, and new insights into post-intensive care unit (ICU) sequelae have brought about interesting ideas for achieving an adequate level of sedation of our patients while minimizing complications. RECENT FINDINGS The recent literature focu...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for acute ischemic stroke. Post tPA patients are typically monitored in an intensive care unit (ICU) for at least 24 hours. However, rigorous evidence to support this practice is lacking. This study evaluates factors that predict ICU needs after IV thrombo...

OBJECTIVE To determine tracheostomy-management practices in Dutch intensive care units (ICUs) and post-ICU step-down facilities. METHODS We surveyed the physician medical directors of all Dutch nonpediatric ICUs that have > or = 5 beds suitable for mechanical ventilation. The survey asked for demographic information about the hospital and ICU setting, and for information and opinions about tr...

heparin is frequently used in different clinical settings to reduce the coagulating ability of the blood. because of probable adverse effects owing to heparin therapy and regarding variability of patients’ responses to heparin, which make it very unreliable, it seems prudent to monitor meticulously its effects on the human body. there are a lot of laboratory tests to watch its effects on the bo...