BACKGROUND Several prognostic systems have been developed and validated in general Intensive Care Units (ICUs). No assessment of these scores was performed in specialized Gastroenterology Intensive Care Units (GICUs). AIM To assess the prognostic accuracy of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II and Sequential Organ Failure Ass...

THE LIQUIDITY TRAP-that awkward condition in which monetary policy loses its grip because the nominal interest rate is essentially zero, in which the quantity of money becomes irrelevant because money and bonds are essentially perfect substitutes-played a central role in the early years of macroeconomics as a discipline. John Hicks, in introducing both the IS-LM model and the liquidity trap, id...

Methods. Prospectively collected data from all patients admitted to a German university hospital postoperative ICU between August 2004 and December 2005 were analysed. The probability of ICU mortality was calculated for SAPS II, APACHE II, adjusted APACHE II (adj-APACHE II), SAPS 3, and SAPS 3 customized for Europe [C-SAPS3 (Eu)] using standard formulas. To improve calibration of the prognostic...

To explore the following hypotheses: 1) Gas exchange, Organ failure, Cause, Associated disease (GOCA) score, which reflects both general health and the severity of lung injury, would be a better mortality predictor of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) than acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE II) or simplified acute physiology score (SAPS II), which are not specific t...

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to assess the role of the ASA, POSSUM and APACHE II score systems for predicting the complications in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal diseases. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 539 patients undergoing colorectal surgery between January 1996 and December 2006. The accuracy of ASA, POSSUM and APACHE II score systems for predicting perioperative co...

BACKGROUND The success of damage-control surgery (DCS) for the treatment of trauma has led to its use in other surgical problems such as abdominal sepsis. Previous studies using direct peritoneal resuscitation (DPR) for the treatment of trauma have yielded promising results. We present the results of the application of this technique to patients experiencing abdominal sepsis. METHODS We enrol...

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This study assessed the ability of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and Acute Physiology, Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring systems, as well as the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II method to predict group mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients who were poisoned with organophosphate. The medical records of 149 organophosphate poisoned patients admitt...