Regulation of interleukin 12 p40 and p70 production by blood and alveolar phagocytes during severe sepsis.

Paradoxically, the host response to severe sepsis may lead to immunosuppression, thereby favoring nosocomial infections. We examined the role of the two IL-12 isoforms, bioactive IL-12p70 and regulatory IL-12p40, in 16 patients with severe sepsis. We compared the capacity of purified blood and alveolar phagocytes [polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and monocytes/macrophages] to secrete each isoform.

Pharmacokinetics of long-term sufentanil infusion for sedation in ICU patients.

Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics of long-term infusion of sufentanil in ICU patients.

Design And Setting: Open-label study in a surgical intensive care unit.

Patients: Ten consecutive patients without renal or hepatic failure requiring mechanical ventilation for at least 6 days.

Intravenous ketoprofen in thyroid and parathyroid surgery.

Unlabelled: We compared the ketoprofen-propacetamol combination relative to propacetamol alone in thyroid and parathyroid surgery in terms of postoperative analgesic efficacy, bleeding, and incidence of nausea and vomiting to determine whether ketoprofen results in any benefit in this type of surgery. Patients were distributed in two parallel groups to be managed by anesthesiologists habitually prescribing (Ketoprofen group) or not prescribing (Control group) ketoprofen in this situation. The same anesthetic technique was used for all patients.