De-escalation antimicrobial chemotherapy in critically III patients: pros and cons.

In spite of advances in critical care, nosocomial infections still have a considerable impact on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and hospital length of stay, mortality and costs. Several authors suggest that antibiotic therapy should be instituted as soon as sepsis is suspected in critically patients. Over the last two decades the rates of occurrence for pathogens have significantly changed under selective pressure from broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy.

Endoscopy in the treatment of benign biliary strictures.

Background/aims: Operative endoscopy is now the method of choice for treating numerous biliary tree diseases. In the treatment of benign strictures of the biliary tree, endoscopy serves as an alternative to surgical interventions. We evaluated the efficacy of endoscopic biliary stents in the treatment of benign biliary strictures.