OBJECTIVE To determine the epidemiology of pneumonia in patients with tracheotomy receiving short-term mechanical ventilation. DESIGN Observational prospective study. SETTING A 14-bed medical-surgical ICU. SUBJECTS Ninety-nine critically ill acute patients requiring percutaneous dilatational tracheotomy for mechanical ventilation. INTERVENTIONS Tracheal aspirate obtained 48 h before tra...

BACKGROUND Prolonged mechanical ventilation and home ventilation impose unique challenges on patients, families, and the healthcare system. In the absence of a centralized database to track prolonged and home ventilation, there has been a paucity of prevalence studies, and what is known is outdated. We surveyed respiratory care managers working in the state of Massachusetts to estimate the prev...

BACKGROUND Growing numbers of critically ill patients receive prolonged mechanical ventilation. Little is known about the patterns of care as patients transition from acute care hospitals to postacute care facilities or about the associated resource utilization. OBJECTIVE To describe 1-year trajectories of care and resource utilization for patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation. ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate causes of failure to be extubated (FTE) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Cardiovascular surgical ICU. PATIENTS Four hundred patients undergoing CABG surgery. Following surgery, patients were extubated by a standardized respiratory protocol and were assessed at 8, 24, and 48 h. Patients who could ...

can be found at: Journal of Intensive Care Medicine Additional services and information for http://jic.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts: http://jic.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions: http://jic.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/17/6/302 SAGE Journals Online and HighWire Press ...

Background Progress in management has improved hospital mortality of patients admitted to the intensive care units, but also the prevalence of those patients needing weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation, and of ventilator assisted individuals. The result is a number of difficult clinical and organizational problems for patients, caregivers and health services, as well as high human and...

The issue of limiting life-sustaining treatments for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is complex. The ethical principles applied by ICU staff when making treatment-limitation decisions must comply with the law of their country. Until 2011, the law in Taiwan prohibited the withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Consequently, patients with severe underlying diseases could receive prolonged mecha...

Respiratory muscle dysfunction, particularly of the diaphragm, may play a key role in the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to difficulty in weaning patients from mechanical ventilation. The limited mobility of critically ill patients, and of the diaphragm in particular when prolonged mechanical ventilation support is required, promotes the early onset of respiratory muscle dysfunction, b...

BACKGROUND Despite advances in care of critically ill neonates, extended mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy are sometimes required. Few studies focus on complications and clinical outcomes. Our aim was to provide long-term outcomes for a cohort of infants who required tracheostomy. METHODS This study is a retrospective review of 165 infants born between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2...

OBJECTIVE To determine why acutely ill children become dependent upon mechanical ventilation and what happens to them. METHODS A retrospective medical record study of all patients aged between 1 month and 16 years from 1983 to 1996 who required ventilation for more than 28 days. RESULTS Forty children were ventilated for between 36 and 180 days before discharge or death. Before their presen...