External ventriculostomy-associated infection reduction after updating a care bundle.

Background: Despite the clinical benefits of external ventricular drains (EVD), these devices can lead to EVD-related infections (EVDRI). The drainage insertion technique and standardized guidelines can significantly reduce the risk of infection, mainly caused by gram-positive bacteria. However, gram-negative microorganisms are the most frequent causative microorganisms of EVDRI in our hospital.

The inflammatory response in cardiac surgery: an overview of the pathophysiology and clinical implications.

During cardiac surgery different factors, such as the aortic clamp, the extracorporeal circulation and the surgical injury itself, produce complex inflammatory responses which can lead to varying degrees of ischemia-reperfusion injury and/or systemic inflammatory response. This may have clinical implications due to hemodynamic changes related with an enlarged vasodilatory response. Thus, maintaining adequate levels of blood pressure during and after cardiac surgery represents a challenge for physicians when inflammatory response appears.