Ultrasound-based evaluation of loss of lean mass in patients with burns: A prospective longitudinal study.

Objectives: To evaluate the loss of lean mass in patients with burns using ultrasonography of the quadriceps muscle of the thigh.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted using ultrasound of the quadriceps muscle of the thigh to assess the change in thickness in millimeters on days 1, 3 and 7 after study enrollment in 45 patients with burns who were admitted to a burn center (BTC) of a university hospital between April 2020 and September 2021. Patients burns on the thighs, which made it difficult to undertake examinations, were excluded.

Improved performance of an intensive care unit after changing the admission triage model.

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of implementing a prioritization triage model for admission to an intensive care unit on the outcome of critically ill patients. Retrospective longitudinal study of adult patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) carried out from January 2013 to December 2017. The primary outcome considered was vital status at hospital discharge.

Risk factors for hospital mortality in intensive care unit survivors: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Deaths can occur after a patient has survived treatment for a serious illness in an intensive care unit (ICU). Mortality rates after leaving the ICU can be considered indicators of health care quality. This study aims to describe risk factors and mortality of surviving patients discharged from an ICU in a university hospital.

Refusal of beds and triage of patients admitted to intensive care units in Brazil: a cross-sectional national survey.

Objective: To obtain data on bed refusal in intensive care units in Brazil and to evaluate the use of triage systems by professionals.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey. Using the Delphi methodology, a questionnaire was created contemplating the objectives of the study.

Evaluation of time to death after admission to an intensive care unit and factors associated with mortality: A retrospective longitudinal study.

Background: Among nonsurvivors admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), some present early mortality while other patients, despite having a favorable evolution regarding the initial disease, die later due to complications related to hospitalization. This study aims to identify factors associated with the time until death after admission to an ICU of a university hospital.

Methods: Retrospective longitudinal study that included adult patients admitted to the ICU between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2017.

The Impact of Body Mass Index in Patients with Severe Burn Injury.

This study evaluated the association of body mass index (BMI) with mortality, length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), and length of hospital stay in major burn patients. It was a retrospective cohort study that was originally conducted from January 2017 to January 2020 and that used data from patients admitted to the intensive care unit for burns at a university hospital. The patients were divided into groups for the purposes of comparing relevant variables according to their BMI.

Analysis of oral risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients.

Objective: This a cross-sectional study to evaluate the association between oral health findings and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) among critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU).

Material And Methods: Data were collected from medical records, and a detailed oral physical examination was performed on 663 critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation. Data were statistically analysed using univariate and logistic regression models relating the development of VAP with the oral findings.

Risk factors for acute respiratory distress syndrome in severe burns: prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Age and inhalation injury are important risk factors for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the burned patient; however, the impact of interventions such as mechanical ventilation, fluid balance (FB), and packed red blood cell transfusion remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of moderate and severe ARDS and its risk factors among burn-related demographic variables and clinical interventions in mechanically ventilated burn patients. Risk factors for death within 28 days were also evaluated.

Acute kidney injury and intra-abdominal hypertension in burn patients in intensive care.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of intra-abdominal hypertension in major burn patients and its association with the occurrence of acute kidney injury.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of a population of burn patients hospitalized in a specialized intensive care unit. A convenience sample was taken of adult patients hospitalized in the period from 1 August 2015 to 31 October 2016.

Analysis of cerebral blood flow and intracranial hypertension in critical patients with non-hepatic hyperammonemia.

Hyperammonemia in adults is generally associated with cerebral edema, decreased cerebral metabolism, and increased cerebral blood flow. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between non-hepatic hyperammonemia and intracranial hypertension assessed by Doppler flowmetry and measurement of the optic nerve sheath. A prospective cohort study in critically ill patients hospitalized in intensive care units of a University Hospital between March 2015 and February 2016.

Caring for critically ill patients outside intensive care units due to full units: a cohort study.

Objectives: This study sought to analyze the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of critically ill patients who were denied intensive care unit admission due to the unavailability of beds and to estimate the direct costs of treatment.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed with critically ill patients treated in a university hospital. All consecutive patients denied intensive care unit beds due to a full unit from February 2012 to February 2013 were included.

Treatment costs of burn victims in a university hospital.

Objectives: To analyze the direct costs of treating critically ill patients in the intensive care unit of a center specializing in treating burns.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of 180 patients from May 2011 to May 2013. Clinical and demographic data were collected in addition to data for the calculation of severity scores.

Evaluation of the five-year operation period of a rapid response team led by an intensive care physician at a university hospital.

Objective: To evaluate the implementation of a multidisciplinary rapid response team led by an intensive care physician at a university hospital.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed assessment forms that were completed during the assessments made by the rapid response team of a university hospital between March 2009 and February 2014.

Results: Data were collected from 1,628 assessments performed by the rapid response team for 1,024 patients and included 1,423 code yellow events and 205 code blue events.

Epidemiology and outcome analysis of burn patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit in a University Hospital.

Objectives: To describe the epidemiologic aspects of burn victims who were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Burn Center in the University Hospital of the State University of Londrina (UEL).

Methods: A longitudinal retrospective study was conducted, involving patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Burn Center from January 2010 to December 2012. Demographic and diagnostic data including the diagnosis of the extent and causes of the burns, complications resulting from the burns and the need for specific surgical interventions were collected, together with data for the calculation of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28) and Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI).

Nursing Activities Score and workload in the intensive care unit of a university hospital.

Objective: The nursing workload consists of the time spent by the nursing staff to perform the activities for which they are responsible, whether directly or indirectly related to patient care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nursing workload in an adult intensive care unit at a university hospital using the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) instrument.

Methods: A longitudinal, prospective study that involved the patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a university hospital between March and December 2008.

Parenteral colistin for the treatment of severe infections: a single center experience.

Objective: To describe a single center experience involving the administration of colistin to treat nosocomial infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and identify factors associated with acute kidney injury and mortality.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study evaluates critically ill patients with infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. All adult patients who required treatment with intravenous colistin (colistimethate sodium) from January to December 2008 were considered eligible for the study.

The performance of a rapid response team in the management of code yellow events at a university hospital.

Objective: To describe the epidemiological data of the clinical instability events in patients attended to by the rapid response team and to identify prognostic factors.

Methods: This was a longitudinal study, performed from January to July 2010, with an adult inpatient population in a hospital environment. The data collected regarding the code yellow service included the criteria of the clinical instability, the drug and non-drug therapies administered and the activities and procedures performed.

Incidence and risk factors for sepsis in surgical patients: a cohort study.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate risk factors for infection and sepsis in surgical patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Materials And Methods: Data were prospectively collected from a cohort of surgical patients from January 2005 to December 2007. We analyzed the incidence of infection and sepsis and certain other variables from the pre-, intra-, and postoperative periods as risk factors for infection and sepsis.

Impact of delayed admission to intensive care units on mortality of critically ill patients: a cohort study.

Introduction: When the number of patients who require intensive care is greater than the number of beds available, intensive care unit (ICU) entry flow is obstructed. This phenomenon has been associated with higher mortality rates in patients that are not admitted despite their need, and in patients that are admitted but are waiting for a bed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if a delay in ICU admission affects mortality for critically ill patients.

Lipoproteins and CETP levels as risk factors for severe sepsis in hospitalized patients.

Background: The magnitude of lipoprotein level reduction during the acute-phase response may be associated with the severity and mortality of sepsis. However, it remains to be determined whether low lipoprotein levels can be considered a risk factor for developing sepsis. We aimed to investigate lipoprotein levels as risk factors for sepsis in hospitalized patients, and also describe sequential changes in lipoprotein and cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) levels during sepsis.

Serial evaluation of SOFA score in a Brazilian teaching hospital.

Objectives: To evaluate the application of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) in describing the severity of organ dysfunctions and the associated mortality rates in critically ill patients at a teaching hospital.

Research Methodology: Prospective longitudinal study performed in 1164 adult, critically ill patients who were admitted consecutively into intensive care units between January 2004 and December 2005. We analysed static evaluation of SOFA and dynamic changes in the SOFA scores.

[POSSUM scoring system for predicting mortality in surgical patients].

This study evaluated the use of the POSSUM (Physiological and Operative Severity Score for Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity) score for predicting mortality in surgical practice. In this study, 416 surgical patients admitted into ICUs for post-surgical care were analyzed. Both predicted and actual mortality rates were compared, according to four risk groups: 0-4%, 5-14%, 15-49%, 50% and over, and the area under the ROC curve of the POSSUM and APACHE II for mortality.

The experience of family members of patients staying in intensive care units.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand the experience of family members, during a patient's stay in the intensive care unit of public and private hospitals using an approximation to the phenomenology referential.

Methods: We interviewed 27 relatives of adult patients, 10 from a public institution and 17 from a private one.

Results: From analyses of interviews in a public institution, four thematic categories emerged.

[Mechanical ventilation in Brazil: epidemiological aspects].

Background And Objectives: There are few epidemiological studies in mechanical ventilation, and the aim of the study is to show how this procedure is being used in Brazil.

Methods: A 1-day point prevalence study was performed in 40 ICUs, with 390 patients; 217 of these patients were in mechanical ventilation. The results evaluated were the characteristics of ventilated patients, their distribution in Brazil, the mechanical ventilation's causes, the main ventilatory modes, the more important ventilators settings, and the weaning stage of mechanical ventilation.