Thrombolysis of Postoperative Acute Pulmonary Embolism with a Thrombus in Transit.

Right heart thrombus in transit clot (RHTT) associated with a pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a rare but potentially fatal diagnosis. Early diagnosis and immediate intervention are crucial. This report describes the case of a healthy, physically active 32-year-old female who presented 19 days postoperatively, following an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and partial lateral meniscectomy with a saddle PE, RHTT, and right ventricular (RV) strain. The patient received half of the standard dose of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) in combination with anticoagulation and survived. Case reports of RHTT will inform future studies designed to evaluate whether and when thrombolysis should be administered.

Identifying What Is Known About Improving Operating Room to Intensive Care Handovers: A Scoping Review.

The purpose is to provide a descriptive overview of relevant material exploring improvement of handovers from the operating room (OR) to intensive care unit (ICU). An online search (MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Joanna Briggs), including gray literature and relevant reference lists, was completed. In all, 4574 unique citations were screened and 155 full-text reviews performed; 65 articles were included in the final analysis. The majority of articles discuss an ideal structure for handover (n = 63; 97%); 43 (66%) articles mentioned strategies for implementing such an approach. Only 21 (32%) explicitly described formal quality improvement (QI) methods. Few explored project sustainability and impact of a structured handover on patient safety outcomes (n = 15, 23%). Published literature suggests that there is a significant gap in evidence of measured patient outcomes from standardization of OR to ICU handover processes. Identifying formal QI strategies used to sustain standardized handover processes will allow accurate measurement of patient outcomes.

Sequential Organ Failure Assessment in H1N1 pandemic planning.

OBJECTIVE: The H1N1 pandemic has highlighted the importance of reliable and valid triage instruments. A Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of >11 has been proposed to exclude patients from critical care resources quoting an associated mortality of >90%. We sought to assess the mortality associated with this Sequential Organ Failure Assessment threshold and the resource implications of such a triage protocol. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: Three multisystem intensive care units. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients admitted from January 2003 to December 2008. Subsequently, a comparison H1N1 cohort was assembled consisting of all patients admitted in 2009 with confirmed H1N1. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment was collected daily by use of an electronic bedside clinical information system (n = 10,204 patients, 69,913 patient days). Mean admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation was 19.1. 13.4% of the cohort (9% of total patient days) had an initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment of >11. Mortality in patients with an initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of >11 was 59% (95% confidence interval: 56%, 62%). The mortality associated with an initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment >11 across diagnostic categories varied from 29% for poisoning to 67% for neurologic patients. Hospital mortality exceeded 90% only when initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment was >20 (0.2% of patients). H1N1 patients were younger, had a longer intensive care unit length of stay, and more commonly had a respiratory admission diagnosis than the nonH1N1 cohort. Hospital mortality in H1N1 patients with an initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of >11 was 31% (95% confidence interval: 5%, 56%). CONCLUSIONS: A Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of >11 was not associated with a hospital mortality of >90% at any time during intensive care unit stay. Only a small proportion of patients have the extreme initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment values associated with a hospital mortality of >90% limiting the usefulness of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment as a triage instrument for pandemic planning. Application of a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment threshold of >11 to the recent H1N1 pandemic would have excluded patients with a markedly lower mortality than seen in a large regional cohort of intensive care unit patients.

Time series analysis of use patterns for common invasive technologies in critically ill patients.

PURPOSE: Critically ill patients are frequently managed with invasive technologies as part of their medical care. Little is known about use patterns. We examined use trends for invasive technologies used in critically ill patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using time series analysis and data on 26 989 patients from 3 medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs) (n = 18 224) and 1 surgical ICU (n = 8765) between January 1, 1999, and January 1, 2007, we measured changes in the proportion of patients receiving the 4 most frequently used invasive technologies used in critically ill patients. RESULTS: The 4 most common invasive technologies used in critically ill patients during the study period were arterial lines (71%), endotracheal intubations (61%), central venous catheters (51%), and pulmonary artery catheters (18%). The proportion of ICU patients who received pulmonary artery catheters decreased from 25% in 1999 to 8% in 2006 (P < .001). Use of central venous catheters increased from 39% to 46% (P < .001). After adjusting for baseline characteristics, patients admitted in 2006 were 4 times less likely to receive a pulmonary artery catheter (odds ratio, 0.28; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.33), but 42% (odds ratio, 1.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-1.58) more likely to receive a central venous catheter than patients admitted in 1999. No significant changes were observed for intubations and arterial lines. CONCLUSIONS: The use of invasive technologies in critically ill patients is changing and may have important implications for resource use, clinician education, and patient care. Initiatives should be considered for ensuring clinician competency during technology transitions.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia in severe traumatic brain injury.

INTRODUCTION: Pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, previous studies have been limited by inclusion of specific patient subgroups or by selection bias. The primary objective of this study was to describe the incidence, risk factors for, and outcome of ventilator-associated pneumonia in an unselected population-based cohort of patients with severe TBI. An additional goal was to define the relationship of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) with nonneurological organ dysfunction. METHODS: A prospective, observational cohort study was performed at Foothills Medical Centre, the sole adult tertiary-care trauma center servicing southern Alberta. All patients with severe TBI requiring ventilation for more than 48 hours between May 1, 2000 and December 30, 2002 were included. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients (45%) acquired VAP for an incidence density of 42.7/1000 ventilator days. Patients with polytrauma were at higher risk (risk ratio 1.7, 95% confidence interval, 0.9-3.1) for development of VAP than those with isolated head injury. Development of VAP was associated with a significantly greater degree of nonneurological organ system dysfunction. Although VAP was not associated with increased hospital mortality, patients who developed VAP had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (15 versus 8 days, p < 0.0001), longer intensive care unit (17 versus 9 days, p < 0.0001) and hospital (60 versus 28 days, p = 0.003) lengths of stay, and more often required tracheostomy (35 versus 18%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: VAP occurs frequently and is associated with significant morbidity in patients with severe TBI.

Effect of critical care medicine fellows on patient outcome in the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: The impact that physician trainees have on patient outcomes in academic adult medical/surgical intensive care units (ICUs) has not been adequately assessed. METHOD: All admissions to adult ICUs within the Calgary Health Region over a three-year period when a critical care medicine fellow (CCMF) was on service were compared to when an attending physician was alone on service. Primary outcomes were ICU and in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: CCMFs and attending physicians admitted 3,341 patients, while attending physicians alone admitted 3,224 patients. There was no difference in ICU or in-hospital mortality between the two groups; regression analysis determined CCMFs did not affect patient LOS. CONCLUSION: In teaching hospitals with adult mixed medical/surgical ICUs, CCMFs do not have an effect on patient outcome or LOS. Improved patient outcomes at academic institutions previously attributed to the presence of CCMFs may instead be due to institution and patient-related factors.

Is regional citrate superior to systemic heparin anticoagulation for continuous renal replacement therapy? A prospective observational study in an adult regional critical care system.

PURPOSE: Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is commonly used in the care of critically ill patients although the optimal means of anticoagulation is not well defined. We report our regional CRRT protocol that was developed using the principles of quality improvement and compare the effect of regional citrate with systemic heparin anticoagulation on filter life span. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective observational cohort study in a Canadian adult regional critical care system. A standardized protocol for CRRT has been implemented at all adult intensive care units in the Calgary Health Region since August 1999. All patients with acute renal failure treated with CRRT during October 1, 2002, to September 30, 2003, were identified and followed up prospectively until hospital discharge or death. RESULTS: Eighty-seven patients with acute renal failure requiring CRRT were identified, 54 were initially treated with citrate, 29 with heparin, and 4 with saline flushes. Citrate and heparin were used in 212 (66%) and 97 (30%) of filters for 8776 and 2651 hours of CRRT, respectively. Overall median (interquartile range) filter life span with citrate was significantly greater than heparin (40 [14-72] vs 20 [5-44] hours, P < .001). The median time to spontaneous filter failure was significantly greater with citrate compared with heparin (>72 vs 33 hours, P < .001). Citrate anticoagulation resulted in greater completion of scheduled filter life span (59% vs 10%, P > .001). Citrate anticoagulation was well tolerated with no patient requiring elective discontinuation for hypernatremia, metabolic alkalosis, or hypocalcemia. CONCLUSIONS: Regional citrate anticoagulation was associated with prolonged filter survival and increased completion of scheduled filter life span compared with heparin. These data support small studies suggesting that citrate is a superior anticoagulant for CRRT and suggest the need for a future definitive randomized controlled trial.

Dialysis Disequilibrium Syndrome: brain death following hemodialysis for metabolic acidosis and acute renal failure--a case report.

BACKGROUND: Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome (DDS) is the clinical phenomenon of acute neurologic symptoms attributed to cerebral edema that occurs during or following intermittent hemodialysis (HD). We describe a case of DDS-induced cerebral edema that resulted in irreversible brain injury and death following acute HD and review the relevant literature of the association of DDS and HD. CASE PRESENTATION: A 22-year-old male with obstructive uropathy presented to hospital with severe sepsis syndrome secondary to pneumonia. Laboratory investigations included a pH of 6.95, PaCO2 10 mmHg, HCO3 2 mmol/L, serum sodium 132 mmol/L, serum osmolality 330 mosmol/kg, and urea 130 mg/dL (46.7 mmol/L). Diagnostic imaging demonstrated multifocal pneumonia, bilateral hydronephrosis and bladder wall thickening. During HD the patient became progressively obtunded. Repeat laboratory investigations showed pH 7.36, HCO3 19 mmol/L, potassium 1.8 mmol/L, and urea 38.4 mg/dL (13.7 mmol/L) (urea-reduction-ratio 71%). Following HD, spontaneous movements were absent with no pupillary or brainstem reflexes. Head CT-scan showed diffuse cerebral edema with effacement of basal cisterns and generalized loss of gray-white differentiation. Brain death was declared. CONCLUSIONS: Death is a rare consequence of DDS in adults following HD. Several features may have predisposed this patient to DDS including: central nervous system adaptations from chronic kidney disease with efficient serum urea removal and correction of serum hyperosmolality; severe cerebral intracellular acidosis; relative hypercapnea; and post-HD hemodynamic instability with compounded cerebral ischemia.

Study of clinical course of organ dysfunction in intensive care.

OBJECTIVE: Multiple organ dysfunction is a common cause of death in intensive care units. We describe the daily course of multiple organ dysfunction measured by the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score in a population-based cohort of critically ill patients. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Adult multisystem intensive care units in the Calgary Health Region. PATIENTS: A total of 1,436 patients admitted from May 1, 2000 to April 30, 2001. MEASUREMENTS: Temporal change in Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score. INTERVENTIONS: None; observational study. MAIN RESULTS: The mean age was 58 yrs (range, 14-100). The mean +/- sd intensive care unit admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score was 25 +/- 9. The median intensive care unit length of stay was 4 days (interquartile range, 2-8), and the median hospital length of stay was 15 days (interquartile range, 7-32). A total of 20.5% of patients were infected at admission, and 26.0% were immediately postoperative. Intensive care unit mortality was 27.0%, and hospital mortality was 35.1%. The daily Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was significantly higher in nonsurvivors than survivors. A population-averaged model determined a mean rate of change of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score to be -0.29 per day (95% confidence interval, -0.32 to -0.25) for survivors and -0.03 per day (95% confidence interval, -0.08 to 0.03) for nonsurvivors (overall regression, p <.0001). Patients with infection had higher admission Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores compared with patients without infection (difference, 1.8; p <.001), but a similar rate of daily change. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple organ dysfunction, does not follow a course of progressive and sequential failure. Evidence of differential daily change should further inform the use of organ failure scores as surrogate outcomes in clinical trials.