Trajectories of Palliative Care Needs in the ICU and Long-Term Psychological Distress Symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: While palliative care needs are assumed to improve during ICU care, few empiric data exist on need trajectories or their impact on long-term outcomes. We aimed to describe trajectories of palliative care needs during ICU care and to determine if changes in needs over 1 week was associated with similar changes in psychological distress symptoms at 3 months. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Six adult medical and surgical ICUs. PARTICIPANTS: Patients receiving mechanical ventilation for greater than or equal to 2 days and their family members. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was the 13-item Needs at the End-of-Life Screening Tool (NEST; total score range 0-130) completed by family members at baseline, 3, and 7 days. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Post-Traumatic Stress Scale (PTSS) were completed at baseline and 3 months. General linear models were used to estimate differences in distress symptoms by change in need (NEST improvement ≥ 10 points or not). One-hundred fifty-nine family members participated (median age, 54.0 yr [interquartile range (IQR), 44.0-63.0 yr], 125 [78.6%] female, 54 [34.0%] African American). At 7 days, 53 (33%) a serious level of overall need and 35 (22%) ranked greater than or equal to 1 individual need at the highest severity level. NEST scores improved greater than or equal to 10 points in only 47 (30%). Median NEST scores were 22 (IQR, 12-40) at baseline and 19 (IQR, 9-37) at 7 days (change, -2.0; IQR, -11.0 to 5.0; p = 0.12). There were no differences in PHQ-9, GAD-7, or PTSS change scores by change in NEST score (all p > 0.15). CONCLUSIONS: Serious palliative care needs were common and persistent among families during ICU care. Improvement in needs was not associated with less psychological distress at 3 months. Serious needs may be commonly underrecognized in current practice.

Palliative care phenotypes among critically ill patients and family members: intensive care unit prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Because the heterogeneity of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and family members represents a challenge to palliative care delivery, we aimed to determine if distinct phenotypes of palliative care needs exist. METHODS: Prospective cohort study conducted among family members of adult patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in six medical and surgical ICUs. The primary outcome was palliative care need measured by the Needs at the End-of-Life Screening Tool (NEST, range from 0 (no need) to 130 (highest need)) completed 3 days after ICU admission. We also assessed quality of communication, clinician-family relationship and patient centredness of care. Latent class analysis of the NEST's 13 items was used to identify groups with similar patterns of serious palliative care needs. RESULTS: Among 257 family members, latent class analysis yielded a four-class model including complex communication needs (n=26, 10%; median NEST score 68.0), family spiritual and cultural needs (n=21, 8%; 40.0) and patient and family stress needs (n=43, 31%; 31.0), as well as a fourth group with fewer serious needs (n=167, 65%; 14.0). Interclass differences existed in quality of communication (median range 4.0-10.0, p<0.001), favourable clinician-family relationship (range 34.6%-98.2%, p<0.001) and both the patient centredness of care Eliciting Concerns (median range 4.0-5.0, p<0.001) and Decision-Making (median range 2.3-4.5, p<0.001) scales. CONCLUSIONS: Four novel phenotypes of palliative care need were identified among ICU family members with distinct differences in the severity of needs and perceived quality of the clinician-family interaction. Knowledge of need class may help to inform the development of more person-centred models of ICU-based palliative care.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe refractory respiratory failure secondary to 2009 H1N1 influenza A.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to H1N1 influenza infection is a source of substantial morbidity and mortality, having caused over 265,000 hospitalizations in the United States in 2009. During the H1N1 pandemic, up to 31% of the H1N1 patients required intensive care unit admission, and many were refractory to maximal conventional therapies. These most critically ill patients may require extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for survival. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the 7 patients with refractory hypoxemia due to H1N1 influenza who were treated with ECMO in our pediatric intensive care unit. RESULTS: Five of the 7 patients survived to hospital discharge. The cohort's mean age was 21 years, and 4 were female. At admission to the pediatric intensive care unit, 6 had at least one comorbid condition, 6 were mechanically ventilated, and one was in shock. All 7 patients were treated with oral oseltamivir, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, and inhaled nitric oxide prior to ECMO. Five received intravenous steroids, and 2 were treated with compassionate-use intravenous zanamivir. The mean duration of pre-ECMO ventilation was 8.7 days (range 14 h to 25 d). Mean oxygenation index was 50 (range 26-73) at ECMO cannulation. Six received venovenous ECMO, and one received venoarterial ECMO. The mean duration of ECMO was 432 hours (range 192-890 h). CONCLUSIONS: This series suggests that ECMO is a viable treatment for refractory hypoxemia secondary to H1N1 influenza infection in both pediatric and adult patients.