Quality indicators in intensive care medicine for Germany - fourth edition 2022.

The measurement of quality indicators supports quality improvement initiatives. The German Interdisciplinary Society of Intensive Care Medicine (DIVI) has published quality indicators for intensive care medicine for the fourth time now. After a scheduled evaluation after three years, changes in several indicators were made.

[Evaluation of the "TeleCOVID Hesse" project after 1 year in operation].

Background: The SARS-CoV‑2 pandemic posed unexpected challenges for hospitals worldwide and in addition to the supply emergency, simultaneously caused a high pressure to innovate. Due to the high number of cases of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care, structured networking of hospitals gained particular importance. The tele-ICU communication platform TeleCOVID was developed to improve the quality of intensive care both by enabling teleconsultations and by supporting patient transfers.

[Quality Assurance in Intensive Care Medicine: Peer Reviews and Quality Indicators].

Goal-oriented quality management in health care is an essential tool to provide good medical practice and treatment. It aims at a patient-centred case management with high transparency of structural and clinical process aspects, as well as patient outcome. An objective and comprehensive description of clinical care includes the use of quality indicators.

The relationship between carotid blood-flow velocity and the left ventricular area during acute regional ischemia.

Objective: Myocardial contractility can be described by the relationship between blood-flow velocity in the carotid artery and the left ventricular cross-sectional area. The authors investigated whether critical myocardial ischemia influences the derived contractility index, E'(es).

Design: A prospective animal study.

Association of increased myocardial contractility and elevated end-diastolic wall tension with short-term myocardial ischemia: a pressure-volume analysis.

Objective: Critical myocardial oxygen imbalance as indicated by elevated interstitial lactate levels may occur in cases of rapidly elevated end-diastolic myocardial wall tension during elevated myocardial contractility in the intact myocardium. Simultaneous administration of beta-adrenergic receptor agonist and antagonist reliably allows for investigating the myocardial response.

Design: Experimental using an in vivo animal model.

Sonographic imaging of the sciatic nerve and its division in the popliteal fossa in children.

Background: High resolution ultrasound is a possible option for anesthetists to detect nerves. We tested the possibility of imaging the sciatic nerve and its division into the tibial and peroneal part using high resolution ultrasound in children.

Methods: Twelve children up to 45 kg body weight were randomly selected.

Determination of preload-recruitable stroke work and elastance by the relationship of arterial blood flow velocity to left ventricular area.

Objective: The authors investigated the feasibility of an online sampling and display of LV flow-area loops for the determination of LV elastance and preload-recruitable stroke work (PRSW). Automated LV area measurements by echocardiography may be combined with flow velocity measurements in the internal carotid artery to construct LV flow-area loops as estimates of the systolic pressure-volume relationship.

Setting: University hospital.

Is the bispectral index appropriate for monitoring the sedation level of mechanically ventilated surgical ICU patients?

Objective: To determine the value of the bispectral index (BIS) in assessing the depth of sedation in sedated and mechanically ventilated ICU patients, compared with clinical sedation scores.

Design And Setting: Prospective convenience sample in a 12-bed anesthesiological-surgical ICU of a university hospital.

Patients: 19 consecutive patients without any central neurological diseases requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 24 h.