Infections are among the most frequent complications of a stay in hospital and raise the complication and mortality rates. Calculations based on data from the Hospital Infection Surveillance System (Krankenhaus-Infektions-Surveillance-System, KISS) …
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Northeast Georgia Medical Center are one step closer to their goal of automating the management of sedation in hospital intensive care units (ICUs). They have developed control algorithms …
While a much hailed communication intervention works for families making decisions for chronically-ill loved ones in medical intensive care units, Case Western Reserve University researchers found the intervention was less effective for surgical and…
A new study suggests that preterm infants may not be fully protected against invasitve pneumococcal disease under the current United Kingdom immunization schedule. The findings are reported in the November issue of the journal Clinical and Vaccine I…
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new study looking at how hospitals identify pediatric patients who develop catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CA-BSI) found significant inconsistencies in the methods used to report the number of patients who develo…
Anaesthetists are calling for greater clarity on the legal implications of testing incapacitated patients for blood-borne viruses, after a survey found that this is often done following staff needlestick injuries, in possible breach of UK legislatio…
Severe sepsis, the leading cause of death in America’s non-coronary intensive care units, is a rapidly growing problem in the United States in terms of the number of patients afflicted by the condition and the complexity of their cases, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh reported Saturday, Feb. 1, at the 32nd Critical Care Congress in San Antonio, Texas. Investigating trends in severe sepsis over a seven-year period, this study is the first to identify the changing epidemiology of the life-threatening disorder and its potential financial impact on intensive care units (ICUs).
sepsis: (n) the presence of pus-forming bacteria or their toxins in the blood or tissues.
A drug called linezolid is more successful at treating a deadly form of pneumonia than the standard treatment, vancomycin, according to data presented Jan. 30 at the 32nd Critical Care Congress of the Society of Critical Care Medicine in San Antonio. These results are based on data from two identical phase III clinical trials comparing linezolid to vancomycin in the treatment of pneumonia cases that develop in the hospital.
The greater use of intensivists, physicians who specialize in the management of critically ill patients, in intensive care units (ICUs) significantly reduces ICU mortality, hospital mortality and length of stay, according to a study published by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers.