Less may be better in critically ill patients

Nutritional Assessment in Critically Ill Patients

Background: Malnutrition is an important factor in the survival of critically ill patients. The purpose of the present study was to assess the nutritional status of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) on the days of admission and discharge via a detailed nutritional assessment. Methods: Totally, 125 patients were followed up from admission to discharge at 8ICUs in Shiraz, Iran. The patien...

More Insulin to Control Glucose Levels May Not Be Better Intensive Versus Conventional Glucose Control in Critically Ill Patients

Background: Better glucose control has been linked to better outcomes and reduced infections in some patient populations. Fear of hypoglycemic complications continues, and some physicians have been slow to adopt strict glucose control for critically ill patients. Objective: To compare outcomes in critically ill patients when either tight or conventional glucose control is used. Design: Prospect...

Achievement of Vancomycin Therapeutic Goals in Critically Ill Patients: Early Individualization May Be Beneficial

Objective. The aim of our study was to assess and validate the effectiveness of early dose adjustment of vancomycin based on first dose monitoring in achieving target recommended goal in critically ill patients. Methods. Twenty critically ill patients with sepsis received loading dose of 25 mg/kg of vancomycin and then were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Group 1 received maximum empirical doses...

probiotics in critically ill patients

In critically ill patients the procalcitonin level can be misleading

ree recently published articles in Critical Care concerning the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) in critically ill patients elicited this cautionary comment of the present article’s title [1-3]. PCT has been introduced as a test with high sensitivity and specifi city for bacterial infection in patients in the emergency department. Th e test’s negative predictive value is thought to be suffi ci...