Publications by authors named "Andrew J Casamento"
Article Synopsis
- A study was conducted in two adult ICUs to compare the effects of continuous infusion of fentanyl versus morphine on patient outcomes during mechanical ventilation.
- The trial included 681 patients and found that those receiving fentanyl had a higher median number of ventilator-free days at Day 28 compared to those on morphine.
- Results suggested that the choice of opioid can significantly impact clinical outcomes, particularly the duration of time patients spent off the ventilator and their overall ICU stay.
Background: Tracheostomy is relatively common in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). The prediction of which patients will receive a tracheostomy is crucial to both clinical decision making and the design of targeted interventional trials of its timing.
Objectives: We aimed to systematically review the literature to ascertain whether useful predictors of eventual tracheostomy can be identified, with a particular focus on trauma patients.
Objective: To investigate the role of medical emergency teams in end-of-life care planning.
Design: One month prospective audit of medical emergency team calls.
Setting: Seven university-affiliated hospitals in Australia, Canada, and Sweden.
Objectives: To improve the documentation of events surrounding medical emergency team (MET) calls and to audit the incidence of MET calls and subsequent patient outcomes.
Methods: Prospective audit and patient chart review before and after three simultaneous interventions: medical team education, addition of intensive care personnel to the MET and introduction of a dedicated medical documentation pro forma. Data collected included patient demographics (including outcomes), features of each MET call (criteria, timing and treatment) and the completeness of medical documentation using nine predetermined criteria.