Publications by authors named "Antonino Giarratano"

We here describe a rare case of a 26-year-old male patient, presenting to our hospital after a motorcycle-car accident for the surgical management of long-bone fractures to the tibia and femur and shoulder dislocation and undergoing orthopedic surgery, who postoperatively developed seizure, coma, and respiratory failure due to a cerebral fat embolism. After some hours after the surgery, a loss of consciousness was described by caregivers, and the ICU team was alerted, and the patient was admitted to ICU. Intracranial hemorrhage and stroke were subsequently excluded and, finally, a whole-body computed tomography angiography scan and head magnetic resonance imaging showed lesions consistent with cerebral fat embolism.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI) has developed a good clinical practice to address the challenges of treating critically ill patients in resource-limited austere environments, exacerbated by recent pandemics, natural disasters, and conflicts. The methodological approach was based on a literature review and a modified Delphi method, which involved blind voting and consensus evaluation using a Likert scale. This process was conducted over two rounds of online voting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In Italy, knee osteoarthritis (KOA) accounts for over 5 million prevalent cases and requires long-term multidisciplinary management. The most frequent KOA symptom is pain. The aim of the survey is to provide a national overview of the current management of moderate-to-severe pain associated with KOA from both clinicians' and patients' perspectives.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bloodstream infections (BSIs) and sepsis are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Appropriate early antibiotic therapy is crucial for improving the survival of patients with sepsis and septic shock. T2 magnetic resonance (T2MR) technology may enable fast and sensitive detection of ESKAPEc pathogens directly from whole-blood samples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Neuropathic pain (NP) is a long-lasting and painful condition caused by damage to the nervous system, and regular pain medications often don't work for it.
  • Antidepressant drugs can help treat NP because they affect certain chemicals in the body that cause inflammation and pain.
  • Medicines like amitriptyline and nortriptyline not only ease pain but also help control inflammation in the brain, making it less likely for NP to become a chronic problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The integration of telemedicine in pain management represents a significant advancement in healthcare delivery, offering opportunities to enhance patient access to specialized care, improve satisfaction, and streamline chronic pain management. Despite its growing adoption, there remains a lack of comprehensive data on its utilization in pain therapy, necessitating a deeper understanding of physicians' perspectives, experiences, and challenges.

Methods: A survey was conducted in Italy between January 2024 and May 2024.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Reintubation is associated with higher risk of mortality. There is no clear evidence on the best spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) method to reduce the risk of reintubation.

Research Question: Are different methods of conducting SBTs in critically ill patients associated with different risk of reintubation compared with T-tube?

Study Design And Methods: We conducted a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of different SBT methods on reintubation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Intra-abdominal infections (IAIs) are common surgical emergencies and are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in hospital settings, particularly if poorly managed. The cornerstones of effective IAIs management include early diagnosis, adequate source control, appropriate antimicrobial therapy, and early physiologic stabilization using intravenous fluids and vasopressor agents in critically ill patients. Adequate empiric antimicrobial therapy in patients with IAIs is of paramount importance because inappropriate antimicrobial therapy is associated with poor outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Being an anesthetist can be exciting but also very stressful and tiring.
  • Fatigue can make it harder for anesthetists to do their jobs well, which can put patients at risk.
  • There are ways to help reduce fatigue and improve both the health of anesthetists and the safety of patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains one of the main causes of death among industrialized countries. The initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by laypeople before the arrival of emergency medical services improves survival. Mouth-to-mouth ventilation may constitute a hindering factor to start bystander CPR, while during continuous chest compressions (CCC) CPR quality decreases rapidly.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Dissemination of medical practice and scientific information through social media (SoMe) by clinicians and researchers is increasing. Broad exposure of information can promote connectivity within the scientific community, overcome barriers to access to sources, increase debate, and reveal layperson perspectives and preferences. On the other hand, practices lacking scientific evidence may also be promoted, laypeople may misunderstand the professional message, and clinician may suffer erosion of professional status.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Septic shock is a critical condition in ICUs with a high mortality risk (up to 40% in 28 days) that typically requires antibiotics, organ support, and sometimes surgery.
  • The EROICASS study will evaluate how extracorporeal blood purification therapies (EBPT) and sequential extracorporeal therapy in sepsis (SETS) can improve patient outcomes and potentially lower 90-day mortality in septic shock patients in Italy.
  • This multicenter observational study will gather data on patient demographics, clinical parameters, and treatment outcomes to better understand the effectiveness of EBPT and SETS in managing septic shock.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Qualitative data on the opinions of anaesthesiologists regarding the impact of peri-operative night-time working conditions on patient safety are lacking.

Objectives: This study aimed to achieve in-depth understanding of anaesthesiologists' perceptions regarding the impact of night-time working conditions on peri-operative patient safety and actions that may be undertaken to mitigate perceived risks.

Design: Qualitative analysis of responses to two open-ended questions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Key Clinical Message: A timely diagnosis is essential to start appropriate therapy and to reduce risks of life-threatening complications of rhabdomyolysis. Some cases can undergo differential diagnosis with other clinical conditions, e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: No data are available on the working conditions and workload of anesthesiologists during perioperative nighttime work in Italy and on the perceived risks.

Results: We analyzed 1085 responses out of the 5292 from the whole dataset. Most of the responders (76%) declared working a median of 12 consecutive hours during night shifts, with an irregular nightshift schedule (70%).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving technology, but it can also inadvertently induce lung injury and increase morbidity and mortality. Currently, there is no easy method of assessing the impact that ventilator settings have on the degree of lung inssflation. Computed tomography (CT), the gold standard for visually monitoring lung function, can provide detailed regional information of the lung.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are frequent causes of sepsis and septic shock in intensive care unit (ICU) and thus considered a public health threat. Until now, the best available therapies consist of combinations of preexisting or new antibiotics with β-lactamase inhibitors (either new or preexisting). Several mechanisms of resistance, especially those mediated by metallo-β-lactamases (MBL), are responsible for the inefficacy of these treatments, leaving an unmet medical need.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Antimicrobial resistance represents a major critical issue for the management of the critically ill patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU), since infections by multidrug-resistant bacteria are characterized by high morbidity and mortality, high rates of treatment failure, and increased healthcare costs worldwide. It is also well known that antimicrobial resistance can emerge as a result of inadequate antimicrobial therapy, in terms of drug selection and/or treatment duration. The application of antimicrobial stewardship principles in ICUs improves the quality of antimicrobial therapy management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In septic patients, hyperoxia may help with its bactericidal effects, but it may cause systemic impairments. The role of hyperoxia and the appropriate oxygen target in these patients is unknown. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the available literature.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The appropriate timing of surgery and perioperative management of patients with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection are open issues. The purpose of this document is to support the clinical decision-making process regarding the patient with previous Sars-CoV-2 infection to undergo elective surgery. The recipients of this document are physicians, nurses, healthcare personnel, and other professionals involved in the patient's surgical process.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) result in significant patient morbidity and can prolong the duration of the hospital stay, causing high supplementary costs in addition to those already sustained due to the patient's underlying disease. Moreover, bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, making HAI prevention even more important nowadays. The public health consequences of antimicrobial resistance should be constrained by prevention and control actions, which must be a priority for all health systems of the world at all levels of care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: During COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions to in-person visiting of caregivers to patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) were applied in many countries. Our aim was to describe the variations in communication and family visiting policies in Italian ICUs during the pandemic.

Methods: A secondary analysis from the COVISIT international survey was conducted, focusing on data from Italy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Palliative care is a special type of medical help that aims to make seriously ill patients feel better during their sickness.
  • In a research project, a lot of articles were looked at about palliative care for brain cancer patients in ICUs, but only 15 were chosen to include in the study.
  • The study found that palliative care for these patients is very important but not used enough, and more research is needed to improve care and communication about end-of-life issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF