BACKGROUND Although venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in critical care unit patients, the risk of VTE and its prevention have been poorly characterized in this population. Evidence-based thromboprophylaxis guidelines are also not available for these critically ill patients. OBJECTIVES To review the prevalence of VTE, to summarize the available clini...

INTRODUCTION Critically ill patients requiring intensive care uniformly develop insulin resistance. This is most pronounced in patients with sepsis. Recently, several hormones secreted by adipose tissue have been identified to be involved in overall insulin sensitivity in metabolic syndrome-related conditions. However, little is known about these adipokines in critical illness. METHODS We stu...

10.2217/14750708.4.1.97 © 20 Critical illnesses associate with alteration in metabolic status. Insulin resistance and enhanced blood glucose levels occur during stressful situations, such as acute illnesses. These disturbances associate with poor prognostic events. Intensive insulin therapy and maintaining normoglycemia reduce the morbidity and mortality rate in critically ill patients. We aim ...

The role of sleep during recovery from acute illness has been overlooked for decades. Advances in the support of critically ill patients have been made in mechanical ventilation, specialized nutrition support, highly specific antibiotic therapy, and early rehabilitation. However, the promotion of sleep - a basic tenet for survival - has been actively ignored by critical care providers. Bourne a...

Critical care in low-income countries remains rudimentary. When defined as all aspects of care for patients with sudden, serious, reversible disease, critical care is not disease or age specific and includes triage and emergency medicine, hospital systems, quality of care and Intensive Care Units. This review collates the literature on critical care in low-income countries and explores how the ...

In the twentieth century, rarely have mass casualty events yielded hundreds or thousands of critically ill patients requiring definitive critical care. However, future catastrophic natural disasters, epidemics or pandemics, nuclear device detonations, or large chemical exposures may change usual disaster epidemiology and require a large critical care response. This article reviews the existing ...

Levofloxacin is commonly used in critically ill patients for which existing data suggest nonstandard dosing regimens should be used. The objective of this study was to compare the population pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin in critically ill and in non-critically ill patients. Adult patients with a clinical indication for levofloxacin were eligible for participation in this prospective pharmaco...

IMPORTANCE: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), various digestive symptoms have been frequently reported in a significant portion of patients infected with the virus. It is well established that most patients with COVID-19 have fever along with respiratory signs and symptoms, such as cough and dyspnea. We present 36 cases with chief complaint of gastrointestinal (GI) symp...

BACKGROUND The gut is capable of inducing multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). In the diagnosis and treatment of critical ill patients, doctors should pay particular attention to the protection or recovery of intestinal barrier function. However, no reliable diagnostic criteria are available clinically. This study aimed to assess the changes of intestinal mucosal barrier function in surg...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical outcomes of glycemic control of intensive insulin therapy and recommend its place in the management of critically ill patients. DATA SOURCES Searches of MEDLINE (1966-March 2004) and Cochrane Library, as well as an extensive manual review of abstracts were performed using the key search terms hyperglycemia, insulin, intensive care unit, critically ill, outco...