Probiotics in critical illness

Role of the microbiome, probiotics, and ‘dysbiosis therapy’ in critical illness

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Loss of 'health-promoting' microbes and overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria (dysbiosis) in ICU is believed to contribute to nosocomial infections, sepsis, and organ failure (multiple organ dysfunction syndrome). This review discusses new understanding of ICU dysbiosis, new data for probiotics and fecal transplantation in ICU, and new data characterizing the ICU microbiome. REC...

Lactate in critical illness

Lactate measurement in the critically ill has been traditionally used to stratify patients with poor outcome. However, plasma lactate levels are the result of a finely tuned interplay of factors that affect the balance between its production and its clearance. When the oxygen supply does not match its consumption, organisms such as man who are forced to produce ATP for their integrity adapt in ...

CritiCal illness in pregnanCy

Critical illness in pregnancy increases maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The critical illness can be related to pregnancy per se, or can be secondary to a concurrent medical illness. Early identification and appropriate management results in good outcomes with a short ICU stay. Late identification and delayed therapy results in poor maternal & fetal outcomes with development of multi...

Clinical review: Probiotics in critical care

Nutritional support in critical illness.

Critically ill patients, almost by definition, are catabolic and often hypermetabolic. Although it is generally accepted that such patients would benefit from nutritional support, there are remarkably little data to support this premise. Several experts believe that prospective, randomized, controlled studies to document the efficacy of nutrition support in improving outcome in critically ill p...