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1.
Vitamin C Administration to the Critically Ill: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Langlois, PL, Manzanares, W, Adhikari, NKJ, Lamontagne, F, Stoppe, C, Hill, A, Heyland, DK
JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition. 2019;(3):335-346
Abstract
Vitamin C, an enzyme cofactor and antioxidant, could hasten the resolution of inflammation, oxidative stress, and microvascular dysfunction. While observational studies have demonstrated that critical illness is associated with low levels of vitamin C, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of vitamin C, alone or in combination with other antioxidants, have yielded contradicting results. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (inception to December 2017) for RCTs comparing vitamin C, by enteral or parenteral routes, with placebo or none, in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Two independent reviewers assessed study eligibility without language restrictions and abstracted data. Overall mortality was the primary outcome; secondary outcomes were incident infections, ICU length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, and duration of mechanical ventilation (MV). We prespecified 5 subgroups hypothesized to benefit more from vitamin C. Eleven randomized trials were included. When 9 RCTs (n = 1322) reporting mortality were pooled, vitamin C was not associated with reduced risk of mortality (risk ratio [RR] 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.43-1.20, P = .21). No effect was found on infections, ICU or hospital LOS, or duration of MV. In multiple subgroup comparison, no statistically significant subgroup effects were observed. However, we did observe a tendency towards a mortality reduction (RR 0.21; 95% CI: 0.04-1.05; P = .06) when intravenous high-dose vitamin C monotherapy was administered. Current evidence does not support supplementing critically ill patients with vitamin C. A moderately large treatment effect may exist, but further studies, particularly of monotherapy administration, are warranted.
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2.
Feeding should be individualized in the critically ill patients.
Berger, MM, Pichard, C
Current opinion in critical care. 2019;(4):307-313
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Any critical care therapy requires individual adaptation, despite standardization of the concepts supporting them. Among these therapies, nutrition care has been repeatedly shown to influence clinical outcome. Individualized feeding is the next needed step towards optimal global critical care. RECENT FINDINGS Both underfeeding and overfeeding generate complications and should be prevented. The long forgotten endogenous energy production, maximal during the first 3 to 4 days, should be integrated in the nutrition plan, through a slow progression of feeding, as full feeding may result in early overfeeding. Accurate and repeated indirect calorimetry is becoming possible thanks to the recent development of a reliable, easy to use and affordable indirect calorimeter. The optimal timing of the prescription of the measured energy expenditure values as goal remains to be determined. Optimal protein prescription remains difficult as no clinically available tool has yet been identified reflecting the body needs. SUMMARY Although energy expenditure can now be measured, we miss indicators of early endogenous energy production and of protein needs. A pragmatic ramping up of extrinsic energy provision by nutrition support reduces the risk of overfeeding-related adverse effects.
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3.
Diabetes Insipidus and Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone in Critically Ill Patients.
Harrois, A, Anstey, JR
Critical care clinics. 2019;(2):187-200
Abstract
Diabetes insipidus and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion lie at opposite ends of the spectrum of disordered renal handling of water. Whereas renal retention of water insidiously causes hypotonic hyponatremia in syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion, diabetes insipidus may lead to free water loss, hypernatremia, and volume depletion. Hypernatremia and hyponatremia are associated with worse outcomes and longer intensive care stays. Moreover, pathologies causing polyuria and hyponatremia in patients in intensive care may be multiple, making diagnosis challenging. We provide an approach to the diagnosis and management of these conditions in intensive care patients.
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4.
Medical treatment for botulism.
Chalk, CH, Benstead, TJ, Pound, JD, Keezer, MR
The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2019;(4):CD008123
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Botulism is an acute paralytic illness caused by a neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Supportive care, including intensive care, is key, but the role of other medical treatments is unclear. This is an update of a review first published in 2011. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of medical treatments on mortality, duration of hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, tube or parenteral feeding, and risk of adverse events in botulism. SEARCH METHODS We searched the Cochrane Neuromuscular Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and Embase on 23 January 2018. We reviewed bibliographies and contacted authors and experts. We searched two clinical trials registers, WHO ICTRP and clinicaltrials.gov, on 21 February 2019. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs examining the medical treatment of any of the four major types of botulism (infant intestinal botulism, food-borne botulism, wound botulism, and adult intestinal toxemia). Potential medical treatments included equine serum trivalent botulism antitoxin, human-derived botulinum immune globulin intravenous (BIG-IV), plasma exchange, 3,4-diaminopyridine, and guanidine. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS We followed standard Cochrane methodology.Our primary outcome was in-hospital death from any cause occurring within four weeks from randomization or the beginning of treatment. Secondary outcomes were death from any cause occurring within 12 weeks, duration of hospitalization, duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of tube or parenteral feeding, and proportion of participants with adverse events or complications of treatment. MAIN RESULTS A single RCT met the inclusion criteria. Our 2018 search update identified no additional trials. The included trial evaluated BIG-IV for the treatment of infant botulism and included 59 treatment participants and 63 control participants. The control group received a control immune globulin that did not have an effect on botulinum toxin. Participants were followed during the length of their hospitalization to measure the outcomes of interest. There was some violation of intention-to-treat principles, and possibly some between-treatment group imbalances among participants admitted to the intensive care unit and mechanically ventilated, but otherwise the risk of bias was low. There were no deaths in either group, making any treatment effect on mortality inestimable. There was a benefit in the treatment group on mean duration of hospitalization (BIG-IV: 2.60 weeks, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.95 to 3.25; control: 5.70 weeks, 95% CI 4.40 to 7.00; mean difference (MD) -3.10 weeks, 95% CI -4.52 to -1.68; moderate-certainty evidence); mechanical ventilation (BIG-IV: 1.80 weeks, 95% CI 1.20 to 2.40; control: 4.40 weeks, 95% CI 3.00 to 5.80; MD -2.60 weeks, 95% CI -4.06 to -1.14; low-certainty evidence); and tube or parenteral feeding (BIG-IV: 3.60 weeks, 95% CI 1.70 to 5.50; control: 10.00 weeks, 95% CI 6.85 to 13.15; MD -6.40 weeks, 95% CI -10.00 to -2.80; moderate-certainty evidence), but not on proportion of participants with adverse events or complications (BIG-IV: 63.08%; control: 68.75%; risk ratio 0.92, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.18; absolute risk reduction 0.06, 95% CI 0.22 to -0.11; moderate-certainty evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS We found low- and moderate-certainty evidence supporting the use of BIG-IV in infant intestinal botulism. A single RCT demonstrated that BIG-IV probably decreases the duration of hospitalization; may decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation; and probably decreases the duration of tube or parenteral feeding. Adverse events were probably no more frequent with immune globulin than with placebo. Our search did not reveal any evidence examining the use of other medical treatments including serum trivalent botulism antitoxin.
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5.
[DGEM Guideline "Clinical Nutrition in Critical Care Medicine" - short version].
Elke, G, Hartl, WH, Kreymann, KG, Adolph, M, Felbinger, TW, Graf, T, de Heer, G, Heller, AR, Kampa, U, Mayer, K, et al
Anasthesiologie, Intensivmedizin, Notfallmedizin, Schmerztherapie : AINS. 2019;(1):63-73
Abstract
PURPOSE Variations of clinical nutrition may affect outcome of critically ill patients. Here we present the short version of the updated consenus-based guideline (S2k classification) "Clinical nutrition in critical care medicine" of the German Society for Nutritional Medicine (DGEM) in cooperation with 7 other national societies. The target population of the guideline was defined as critically ill adult patients who suffer from at least one acute organ dysfunction requiring specific drug therapy and/or a mechanical support device (e.g. mechanical ventilation) to maintain organ function. METHODS The former guidelines of the German Society for Nutritional Medicine (DGEM) were updated according to the current instructions of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) valid for a S2k-guideline. We considered and commented the evidence from randomized-controlled trials, meta-analyses and observational studies with adequate sample size and high methodological quality (until May 2018) as well as from currently valid guidelines of international societies. The liability of each recommendation was indicated using linguistic terms. Each recommendation was finally validated and consented by a Delphi process. RESULTS The short version presents a summary of all 69 consented recommendations for essential, practice-relevant elements of clinical nutrition in the target population. A specific focus is the adjustment of nutrition according to the phases of critical illness, and to the individual tolerance to exogenous substrates. Among others, recommendations include the assessment of nutritional status, the indication for clinical nutrition, the timing, route, magnitude and composition of nutrition (macro- and micronutrients) as well as distinctive aspects of nutrition therapy in obese critically ill patients and those with extracorporeal support devices. CONCLUSION The current short version of the guideline provides a concise summary of the updated recommendations for enteral and parenteral nutrition of adult critically ill patients who suffer from at least one acute organ dysfunction requiring pharmacological and/or mechanical support. The validity of the guideline is approximately fixed at five years (2018 - 2023).
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Discharge home from critical care: safety assessment in a resource constrained system.
Xing, S, Roshdy, A, Radhakrishnan, J, Kiff, K, Collins, J
The journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 2019;(1):23-25
Abstract
BACKGROUND High bed occupancy rates have delayed patient discharges from UK critical care units, especially in acute medical hospitals. As a result, more patients are discharged home directly from critical care (DH). METHODS In this observational, retrospective study, we quantify the trends in DH from 2013 to 2018, and assess readmission rates and outcome in this group when compared to patients discharged from a ward, from 2014 to 2016. RESULTS DH rates, as a proportion of critical care admissions, increased every year (2.47% in 2013 to 19.36% in 2018). In 2014-16, the most common admission diagnoses in DH patients were diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA; 35%), drug overdose (12%), seizures (8%) and respiratory failure (8%). DH patients were younger and had shorter critical care stay. Readmission rates in DH patients were comparable to the rest of the hospital. Patients with DKA and seizures were more likely to be readmitted. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that direct home discharge from critical care is increasingly common but safe in selected patient groups.
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7.
Lung Ultrasound for Critically Ill Patients.
Mojoli, F, Bouhemad, B, Mongodi, S, Lichtenstein, D
American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine. 2019;(6):701-714
Abstract
Point-of-care ultrasound is increasingly used at the bedside to integrate the clinical assessment of the critically ill; in particular, lung ultrasound has greatly developed in the last decade. This review describes basic lung ultrasound signs and focuses on their applications in critical care. Lung semiotics are composed of artifacts (derived by air/tissue interface) and real images (i.e., effusions and consolidations), both providing significant information to identify the main acute respiratory disorders. Lung ultrasound signs, either alone or combined with other point-of-care ultrasound techniques, are helpful in the diagnostic approach to patients with acute respiratory failure, circulatory shock, or cardiac arrest. Moreover, a semiquantification of lung aeration can be performed at the bedside and used in mechanically ventilated patients to guide positive end-expiratory pressure setting, assess the efficacy of treatments, monitor the evolution of the respiratory disorder, and help the weaning process. Finally, lung ultrasound can be used for early detection and management of respiratory complications under mechanical ventilation, such as pneumothorax, ventilator-associated pneumonia, atelectasis, and pleural effusions. Lung ultrasound is a useful diagnostic and monitoring tool that might in the near future become part of the basic knowledge of physicians caring for the critically ill patient.
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8.
Energy balance in obese, mechanically ventilated intensive care unit patients.
Vest, MT, Newell, E, Shapero, M, McGraw, P, Jurkovitz, C, Lennon, SL, Trabulsi, J
Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.). 2019;:48-53
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were, first, to compare the predicted (calculated) energy requirements based on standard equations with target energy requirement based on indirect calorimetry (IC) in critically ill, obese mechanically ventilated patients; and second, to compare actual energy intake to target energy requirements. METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study of mechanically ventilated critically ill patients with body mass index ≥30.0 kg/m2 for whom enteral feeding was planned. Clinical and demographic data were prospectively collected. Resting energy expenditure was measured by open-circuit IC. American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (APSPEN)/Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) 2016 equations were used to determine predicted (calculated) energy requirements. Target energy requirements were set at 65% to 70% of measured resting energy expenditure as recommended by ASPEN/SCCM. Nitrogen balance was determined via simultaneous measurement of 24-h urinary nitrogen concentration and protein intake. RESULTS Twenty-five patients (mean age: 64.5 ± 11.8 y, mean body mass index: 35.2 ± 3.6 kg/m2) underwent IC. The mean predicted energy requirement was 1227 kcal/d compared with mean measured target energy requirement of 1691 kcal/d. Predicted (calculated) energy requirements derived from ASPEN/SCCM equations were less than the target energy requirements in most cases. Actual energy intake from enteral nutrition met 57% of target energy requirements. Protein intake met 25% of target protein requirement and the mean nitrogen balance was -2.3 ± 5.1 g/d. CONCLUSIONS Predictive equations underestimated target energy needs in this population. Further, we found that feeding to goal was often delayed resulting in failure to meet both protein and energy intake goals.
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9.
Summary for Clinicians: Microbiological Laboratory Testing in the Diagnosis of Fungal Infections in Pulmonary and Critical Care Practice.
Hage, CA, Carmona, EM, Evans, SE, Limper, AH, Ruminjo, J, Thomson, CC
Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2019;(12):1473-1477
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10.
The Long and Winding Road to Personalized Glycemic Control in the Intensive Care Unit.
Tickoo, M
Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine. 2019;(5):571-579
Abstract
In the critically ill adult, dysglycemia is a marker of disease severity and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. Close monitoring of glucose and use of insulin in critically ill patients have been done for more than 2 decades, but the appropriate target glycemic range in critically ill patients remains controversial. Physiological stress response, levels of inflammatory cytokines, nutritional intake, and level of mobility affect glycemic control, and a more personalized approach to patients with dysglycemia is warranted in critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We discuss the pathophysiology and downstream effects of altered glycemic response in critical illness, management of glycemic control in the ICU, and future strategies toward personalization of critical care glycemic management.