Correlation of the Critical Care Pain Observation Tool and Numeric Rating Scale in Intensive Care Unit Patients.

PURPOSE: We sought to determine the correlation between the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) to determine whether clinical factors modified the relationship between NRS and CPOT assessments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included nonventilated adults admitted to the MICU or SICU who could self-report pain and had at least 3 paired NRS and CPOT assessments. We performed Spearman correlation to assess overall correlation and performed proportional odds logistic regression to evaluate whether the relationship between NRS and CPOT assessments was modified by clinical factors. RESULTS: Nursing staff performed NRS and CPOT assessments every 4 h in 1302 patients, leading to 61,142 matched assessments. We found that the NRS and CPOT have a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.56 and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.32 in intensive care unit patients. Factors that modified the relationship between the NRS and CPOT included the presence of delirium (P < .001) and lower mean daily Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The correlation coefficient between the NRS and the CPOT was found to be 0.56. The presence of delirium, decreased level of arousal, modified the relationship between the NRS and CPOT. Self-reported and behavioral pain assessments cannot be used interchangeably in critically ill adults.

False prolongation of International Normalized Ratio associated with daptomycin.

PURPOSE: Persistent elevation of prothrombin time (PT) and International Normalized Ratio (INR) values in a patient receiving daptomycin is reported. SUMMARY: A morbidly obese 51-year-old man was hospitalized for evaluation for surgical intervention for gallstone pancreatitis and biliary obstruction. Previously prescribed warfarin therapy was withheld due to suspected coagulopathy and an elevated INR (5.1), and warfarin reversal was initiated. After undergoing partial cholecystectomy on hospital day 6, the patient developed sepsis and was treated with i.v. meropenem and daptomycin for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus infection. Warfarin therapy, which had been resumed after cholecystectomy, was again discontinued on hospital day 12. On the eighth day of daptomycin therapy, the INR remained elevated (2.6) even though the patient had no warfarin exposure for 9 days. On hospital day 21, thromboelastography (TEG) indicated normal whole blood coagulation. Other anticoagulation markers normalized, but the INR remained elevated until daptomycin was discontinued. Daptomycin has been shown to falsely prolong the INR when specific laboratory reagents are used for PT and INR testing, but the specific reagent used in this case has not been previously implicated. CONCLUSION: Daptomycin therapy appeared to cause a false and substantial INR elevation in a patient who had been receiving warfarin. Results of TEG suggested that the INR elevation was an artifact of a drug-laboratory interaction and did not represent an anticoagulated state. The patient's INR normalized after linezolid was substituted for daptomycin.

Evaluation of a Short Course of Antimicrobial Therapy for Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections in Critically Ill Surgical Patients.

BACKGROUND: The optimal duration of antimicrobial therapy for treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) in critically ill surgical patients is unknown. Recent evidence suggests that a short (four-day) course of therapy may be effective, however data in severely critically ill patients are limited. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single-center, retrospective, cohort study was conducted at a tertiary academic medical center. Adult patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) with cIAI between December 2011 and July 2015 were enrolled. Patients undergoing transplantation and those with less than 24 h in the SICU were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups, short (≤ 7 d) and long (> 7 d) antimicrobial therapy. The primary outcome was treatment failure, which was defined as a composite of recurrent cIAI, secondary extra-abdominal infection, and/or in-hospital mortality from any cause. Categorical and continuous data were analyzed with χ2 and Mann-Whitney U tests, respectively. Binary logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with treatment failure and mortality. RESULTS: Of 1,679 patients screened, 240 were included, 103 in the short and 137 in the long group. Patients in the short and long groups received a median of 5 and 14 d of therapy, respectively (p < 0.001). Treatment failure occurred less frequently with a short duration of therapy (39% versus 63%, p < 0.001) and it occurred two days sooner after source control in patients receiving the shorter courses of antimicrobial therapy (short, median 6 d, interquartile range [IQR] 3-9; long, 8 d, IQR 6-14; p < 0.001). Logistic regression demonstrated that a long duration of therapy was associated with treatment failure (odds ratio [OR] 2.186, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.251-3.820, p = 0.006), but not with mortality (OR 0.738, 95% CI 0.329-1.655, p = 0.461). CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill surgical patients with cIAI, a short duration of antimicrobial therapy after source control resulted in similar outcomes to previously published studies, providing support for the safety of this approach in critically ill patients.