Hazards of intubation in the ICU: role of nasal high flow oxygen therapy for preoxygenation and apneic oxygenation to prevent desaturation.

Acute respiratory failure is one the most common motives for intensive care unit admission. Although results from recent studies with high flow nasal oxygen have challenged our current management of these patients, a substantial number of them will require invasive mechanical ventilation and tracheal intubation. Life-threatening hypoxemia is the most frequent complication of these intubations.

McGRATH MAC videolaryngoscope versus Macintosh laryngoscope for orotracheal intubation in intensive care patients: the randomised multicentre MACMAN trial study protocol.

Introduction: Critically ill patients with acute respiratory, neurological or cardiovascular failure requiring invasive mechanical ventilation are at high risk of difficult intubation and have organ dysfunctions associated with complications of intubation and anaesthesia such as hypotension and hypoxaemia. The complication rate increases with the number of intubation attempts. Videolaryngoscopy improves elective endotracheal intubation.

Randomized intubation with polyurethane or conical cuffs to prevent pneumonia in ventilated patients.

Rationale: The occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is linked to the aspiration of contaminated pharyngeal secretions around the endotracheal tube. Tubes with cuffs made of polyurethane rather than polyvinyl chloride or with a conical rather than a cylindrical shape increase tracheal sealing.

Objectives: To test whether using polyurethane and/or conical cuffs reduces tracheal colonization and VAP in patients with acute respiratory failure.

Small dead space heat and moisture exchangers do not impede gas exchange during noninvasive ventilation: a comparison with a heated humidifier.

Objective: Adverse respiratory and gasometrical effects have been described in patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) undergoing noninvasive ventilation (NIV) with standard heat and moisture exchangers (HME). We decided to evaluate respiratory parameters and arterial blood gases (ABG) of patients during NIV with small dead space HME compared with heated humidifier (HH).

Design: Prospective randomized crossover study.

A carbon monoxide-releasing molecule (CORM-3) exerts bactericidal activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and improves survival in an animal model of bacteraemia.

The search for new molecules to fight Pseudomonas aeruginosa is of paramount importance. Carbon monoxide (CO) is known to act as an effective inhibitor of the respiratory chain in P. aeruginosa, but the practical use of this gas as an antibacterial molecule is hampered by its toxicity and difficulty to manipulate.