Comparison of Mechanical Insufflation-Exsufflation and Hypertonic Saline and Hyaluronic Acid With Conventional Open Catheter Suctioning in Intubated Patients.

Background: Open respiratory secretion suctioning with a catheter causes pain and tracheobronchial mucosal injury in intubated patients. The goal of mechanical insufflation-exsufflation (MI-E) is to move secretions proximally and noninvasively by generating a high peak expiratory air flow. Nebulized hypertonic saline with hyaluronic acid (HS-HA) may facilitate suctioning by hydration.

Hourly Analysis of Mechanical Ventilation Parameters in Critically Ill Adult Covid-19 Patients: Association with Mortality.

There exists controversy about the pathophysiology and lung mechanics of COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), because some report severe hypoxemia with preserved respiratory system mechanics, contrasting with "classic" ARDS. We performed a detailed hourly analysis of the characteristics and time course of lung mechanics and biochemical analysis of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) for COVID-19-associated ARDS, comparing survivors and non-survivors. Retrospective analysis of the data stored in the ICU information system of patients admitted in our hospital ICU that required IMV due to confirmed SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia between March 5th and April 30th, 2020.

Big data and machine learning in critical care: Opportunities for collaborative research.

The introduction of clinical information systems (CIS) in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) offers the possibility of storing a huge amount of machine-ready clinical data that can be used to improve patient outcomes and the allocation of resources, as well as suggest topics for randomized clinical trials. Clinicians, however, usually lack the necessary training for the analysis of large databases. In addition, there are issues referred to patient privacy and consent, and data quality.

Preliminary experience on the safety and tolerability of mechanical "insufflation-exsufflation" in subjects with artificial airway.

Background: Catheter suctioning of respiratory secretions in intubated subjects is limited to the proximal airway and associated with traumatic lesions to the mucosa and poor tolerance. "Mechanical insufflation-exsufflation" exerts positive pressure, followed by an abrupt drop to negative pressure. Potential advantages of this technique are aspiration of distal airway secretions, avoiding trauma, and improving tolerance.

[Cost per episode of care in the surgical treatment of skin cancer].

Background: Skin cancer is the most common form of malignancy in humans. It can be treated with various techniques and by different specialists. The procedure with the lowest failure rates is surgical excision.