Intensive care unit patients' opinion on enrollment in clinical research: A multicenter survey.

Background: In most emergency situations or severe illness, patients are unable to consent for clinical trial enrollment. In such circumstances, the decision about whether to participate in a scientific study or not is made by a legally designated representative.

Objective: To address the willingness of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) to be enrolled in a scientific study as volunteers, and to assess the agreement between patients' and their legal representatives' opinion concerning enrollment in a scientific study.

Assessment of the peripheral microcirculation in patients with and without shock: a pilot study on different methods.

Microvascular dysfunction has been associated with adverse outcomes in critically ill patients, and the current concept of hemodynamic incoherence has gained attention. Our objective was to perform a comprehensive analysis of microcirculatory perfusion parameters and to investigate the best variables that could discriminate patients with and without circulatory shock during early intensive care unit (ICU) admission. This prospective observational study comprised a sample of 40 adult patients with and without circulatory shock (n = 20, each) admitted to the ICU within 24 h.