Early Mobilization: Changing the Mindset.

Background: Staff in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) had several concerns about mobilizing patients receiving mechanical ventilation.

Objective: To assess and improve the mindset of SICU staff toward early mobilization of patients receiving mechanical ventilation before, 6 months after, and 1 year after implementation of early mobilization.

Methods: The Plan-Do-Study-Act model was used to guide the planning, implementation, evaluation, and interventions to change the mindset and practice of SICU staff in mobilizing patients receiving mechanical ventilation.

Pancreatic retransplantation is associated with poor allograft survival: an update of the United Network for Organ Sharing database.

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to assess outcomes of pancreas retransplantation versus primary pancreas transplantation.

Methods: Data from the United Network for Organ Sharing database on all adult (age, ≥18 years) subjects who received pancreas and kidney-pancreas transplants between 1996 and 2012 were analyzed (n = 20,854). The subjects were analyzed in the following 2 groups: retransplant (n = 1149) and primary transplant (n = 19,705).

The "Fistula VAC," a technique for management of enterocutaneous fistulae arising within the open abdomen: report of 5 cases.

Background: Management of intestinal fistulae in open abdominal wounds remains a significant clinical challenge for those caring for patients surviving damage control abdominal operations. Breaking the cycle of tissue inflammation, infection, and sepsis, resulting from leakage of enteric contents, should be a major goal in the approach to these complex patients. We describe a technique utilizing vacuum assisted closure (VAC) which achieves control of enteric flow from fistulae in open abdominal wounds.