Pharmacist Involvement in Sepsis Response and Time to Antibiotics: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Reductions in time to antibiotics in patients presenting with sepsis or septic shock are associated with reduced mortality, and Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines recommend antibiotics within one hour of recognition. Pharmacists are well-equipped to help navigate the therapeutic and operational challenges associated with achieving this goal.

Contemporary targeted temperature management: Clinical evidence and controversies.

Advancements in cardiac arrest and post-cardiac arrest care have led to improved survival to hospital discharge. While survival to hospital discharge is an important clinical outcome, neurologic recovery is also a priority. With the advancement of targeted temperature management (TTM), the American Heart Association guidelines for post-cardiac arrest care recommend TTM in patients who remain comatose after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).

Artificial intelligence to evaluate postoperative pain based on facial expression recognition.

Background: Pain intensity evaluation by self-report is difficult and biased in non-communicating people, which may contribute to inappropriate pain management. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate pain intensity based on automated facial expression analysis has not been evaluated in clinical conditions.

Methods: We trained and externally validated a deep-learning system (ResNet-18 convolutional neural network) to identify and classify 2810 facial expressions of 1189 patients, captured before and after surgery, according to their self-reported pain intensity using numeric rating scale (NRS, 0-10).

Pharmacotherapy in Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Risk of Secondary Infections: A Single-Center Case Series and Narrative Review.

Unlabelled: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, immune modulators have been considered front-line candidates for the management of patients presenting with clinical symptoms secondary to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Although heavy emphasis has been placed on early clinical efficacy, we sought to evaluate the impact of pharmacologic approach to coronavirus disease 2019 within the ICU on secondary infections and clinical outcomes.

Data Sources: PubMed (inception to March 2021) database search and manual selection of bibliographies from selected articles.

Impact of protocolized diuresis for de-resuscitation in the intensive care unit.

Objective: Administration of diuretics has been shown to assist fluid management and improve clinical outcomes in the critically ill post-shock resolution. Current guidelines have not yet included standardization or guidance for diuretic-based de-resuscitation in critically ill patients. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a multi-disciplinary protocol for diuresis-guided de-resuscitation in the critically ill.

Insidious Harm of Medication Diluents as a Contributor to Cumulative Volume and Hyperchloremia: A Prospective, Open-Label, Sequential Period Pilot Study.

Objectives: Although the potential dangers of hyperchloremia from resuscitation fluids continue to emerge, no study to date has considered the contribution of medication diluents to cumulative volume and hyperchloremia. This study compares saline versus dextrose 5% in water as the primary medication diluent and the occurrence of hyperchloremia in critically ill patients.

Design: Prospective, open-label, sequential period pilot study.

Impact of Pharmacist Intervention on Selection and Timing of Appropriate Antimicrobial Therapy in Septic Shock.

Background: Current guidelines for septic shock management recommend administration of appropriate, broad-spectrum antimicrobials within 1 hour of recognition.

Objective: To evaluate the interventions pharmacists make as part of a sepsis response team and to determine if these interventions increase the proportion of patients with appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken reviewing adult patients in a large, academic medical center with confirmed septic shock who had an order for a "sepsis bundle," which includes notification of a pharmacist to assess adequacy of empiric therapy.

Managing the Rising Costs and High Drug Expenditures in Critical Care Pharmacy Practice.

Pharmaceutical costs for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) constitute a large portion of hospital drug budgets. Unfortunately, prices for medications commonly used in the ICU are on the rise for a variety of reasons. In particular, the U.