Peripherally administered vasopressors in critically ill adult patients: A survey of UK healthcare professional practices, attitudes and experiences.

Background: Peripherally administered vasopressor infusions are used to support critically ill patients. The Intensive Care Society recently published guidelines supporting their use. Preliminary evidence suggests variability in peripheral vasopressor infusion use.

Effect of skin tone on the accuracy of the estimation of arterial oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry: a systematic review.

Background: Pulse oximetry-derived oxygen saturation (SpO) is an estimate of true arterial oxygen saturation (SaO). The aim of this review was to evaluate available evidence determining the effect of skin tone on the ability of pulse oximeters to accurately estimate SaO.

Methods: Published literature was screened to identify clinical and non-clinical studies enrolling adults and children when SpO was compared with a paired co-oximetry SaO value.

The Use of Metaraminol as a Vasopressor in Critically Unwell Patients: A Narrative Review and a Survey of UK Practice.

Background: Major international guidelines state that norepinephrine should be used as the first-line vasopressor to achieve adequate blood pressure in patients with hypotension or shock. However, recent observational studies report that in the United Kingdom and Australia, metaraminol is often used as second line medication for cardiovascular support.

Aim Of The Study: The aim of this study was to carry out a systematic review of metaraminol use for management of shock in critically unwell patients and carry out a survey evaluating whether UK critical care units use metaraminol and under which circumstances.

Congestion in the tube: air trapping in a ventilated patient with COVID-19 secondary to mucinous valves.

A woman in her 50s was admitted to the intensive therapy unit with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19 pneumonitis. The patient was intubated on admission and worsening gas exchange necessitated multiple rounds of proning . She later improved, and her ventilation was switched to spontaneous mode.

Intensive care unit staffing during the periods of fluctuating bed occupancy: An alternative dynamic model.

Objectives: Staffing is the single biggest cost component in the critical care budgets. Due to the fluctuation in both bed occupancy and the level of care needs, nursing staff requirement can vary considerably from day to day. This makes the traditional 'fixed roster' staffing system inefficient, costly and potentially unsafe.

'Should I Stay, or Should I Go?' Psychological Distress Predicts Career Change Ideation among Intensive Care Staff in Lithuania and the UK Amid COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on healthcare globally. Additional pressure created by coronavirus adversely affected the mental health and psychological well-being of healthcare workers, leading many to question their desire and willingness to continue working in healthcare. This study aimed to identify predictors for career change ideation among healthcare professionals in two countries; Lithuania and the United Kingdom amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Cost-effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery: Learning from 15,856 patients.

Background: Patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery are exposed to a high risk of death. A quality improvement (QI) programme to improve the survival for these patients was evaluated in the Enhanced Peri-Operative Care for High-risk patients (EPOCH) trial. This study aims to assess its cost-effectiveness versus usual care from a UK health service perspective.

Chronotropic incompetence and myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery: planned secondary analysis of a prospective observational international cohort study.

Background: Physiological measures of heart failure are common in surgical patients, despite the absence of a diagnosis. Heart rate (HR) increases during exercise are frequently blunted in heart failure (termed chronotropic incompetence), which primarily reflects beta-adrenoreceptor dysfunction. We examined whether chronotropic incompetence was associated with myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery.