Decreasing Goal Oxygen Saturations in Bronchiolitis Is Associated With Decreased Length of Stay.

Objectives: For patients hospitalized with bronchiolitis, many hospitals have implemented clinical practice guidelines to decrease variability in care. Our hospital updated its bronchiolitis clinical pathway by lowering goal oxygen saturation from 90% to 88%. We compared clinical outcomes before and after this change within the context of the pathway update.

Comparison of a self-inflating bulb syringe and a colorimetric CO2 indicator with capnography and radiography to detect the misdirection of naso/orogastric tubes into the airway of critically ill adult patients.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a mechanism of discovering misdirection into the airway of naso/orogastric (NG) tubes before they reach their full depth of placement in adults.

Methods: A prospective, observational study was performed in humans, evaluating both the self-inflating bulb syringe (SIBS) and a colorimetric CO2 detector. A prospective convenience sample of 257 NG tube placements was studied in 199 patients in medical ICUs of a tertiary care medical center.

The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score and copeptin for predicting survival in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Introduction: Ventilator-associated pneumonia remains the most common nosocomial infection in the critically ill and contributes to significant morbidity. Eventual decisions regarding withdrawal or maximal therapy are demanding and rely on physicians' experience. Additional objective tools for risk assessment may improve medical judgement.

Pancreatic stone protein: a marker of organ failure and outcome in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common hospital-acquired, life-threatening infection. Poor outcome and health-care costs of nosocomial pneumonia remain a global burden. Currently, physicians rely on their experience to discriminate patients with good and poor outcome.