Publications by authors named "Ramasco F"

Article Synopsis
  • Tracheal intubations in the ICU face challenges like poor glottic view and higher complication rates; this study compares the efficacy of two videolaryngoscope (VL) types: the standard Macintosh blade versus a hyperangulated blade.
  • The INtubation VIdeolaryngoscopy BLADE-ICU trial is a randomized, controlled study conducted across 29 ICUs in Spain, focusing on first-attempt intubation success as the primary outcome, along with other measures like time to intubation and complication rates.
  • The study has ethical approval and aims to improve airway management outcomes, with patient enrollment starting in May 2024 and anticipated results to be published in 2025.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sepsis and septic shock are associated with high mortality, with diagnosis and treatment remaining a challenge for clinicians. Their management classically encompasses hemodynamic resuscitation, antibiotic treatment, life support, and focus control; however, there are aspects that have changed. This narrative review highlights current and avant-garde methods of handling patients experiencing septic shock based on the experience of its authors and the best available evidence in a context of uncertainty.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sepsis is a time-dependent disease whose prognosis is influenced by early diagnosis and therapeutic measures. Mortality from sepsis remains high, and for this reason, the guidelines of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommend establishing specific care programs aimed at patients with sepsis. We present the results of the application of a hospital model to improve performance in sepsis care, called , with the aim of reducing mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The main recent change observed in the field of critical patient infection has been universal awareness of the need to make better use of antimicrobials, especially for the most serious cases, beyond the application of simple and effective formulas or rigid protocols. The increase in resistant microorganisms, the quantitative increase in major surgeries and interventional procedures in the highest risk patients, and the appearance of a significant number of new antibiotics in recent years (some very specifically directed against certain mechanisms of resistance and others with a broader spectrum of applications) have led us to shift our questions from "what to deal with" to "how to treat". There has been controversy about how best to approach antibiotic treatment of complex cases of sepsis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Septic shock is a highly lethal and prevalent disease. Progressive circulatory dysfunction leads to tissue hypoperfusion and hypoxia, eventually evolving to multiorgan dysfunction and death. Prompt resuscitation may revert these pathogenic mechanisms, restoring oxygen delivery and organ function.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: It is uncertain whether individualisation of the perioperative open-lung approach (OLA) to ventilation reduces postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing lung resection. We compared a perioperative individualised OLA (iOLA) ventilation strategy with standard lung-protective ventilation in patients undergoing thoracic surgery with one-lung ventilation.

Methods: This multicentre, randomised controlled trial enrolled patients scheduled for open or video-assisted thoracic surgery using one-lung ventilation in 25 participating hospitals in Spain, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and Ecuador.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Research in fluid therapy and perioperative hemodynamic monitoring is difficult and expensive. The objectives of this study were to summarize these topics and to prioritize these topics in order of research importance.

Methods: Electronic structured Delphi questionnaire over three rounds among 30 experts in fluid therapy and hemodynamic monitoring identified through the Fluid Therapy and Hemodynamic Monitoring Subcommittee of the Hemostasis, Transfusion Medicine and Fluid Therapy Section of the Spanish Society of Anesthesiology and Critical Care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objective: Cardiogenic shock (CS) mortality remains very high and mechanical circulatory support (MCS) may provide an effective alternative of treatment in selected patients. The aim of this study is to analyse the results of a multidisciplinary team care program (including anaesthesiologists, cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and intensivists) in CS patients who required MCS, in a tertiary centre without a heart transplant (HT) program.

Methods: Prospective observational study that sought to analyse the characteristics and survival to discharge predictors in a consecutive CS patients cohort treated with MCS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Ceftazidime/avibactam has shown potential as an effective treatment for infections caused by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE), particularly for patients with higher INCREMENT-CPE scores.
  • In a study of 339 patients, those treated with ceftazidime/avibactam had lower mortality rates compared to those receiving the best available therapy after 30 days.
  • The results suggest that ceftazidime/avibactam not only improves survival but also aids in achieving better clinical and microbiological outcomes, indicating the need for further randomized controlled trials to validate these findings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: In the hospital of La Princesa, the "Sepsis Code" (CSP) began in 2015, as a multidisciplinary group that provides health personnel with clinical, analytical and organizational tools, with the aim of the detection and early treatment of patients with sepsis. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of CSP implantation on mortality and to determine the variables associated with an increase in it.

Methods: A retrospective analytical study of patients with CSP alert activation from 2015 to 2018 was conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objective: To develop and validate a delirium risk prediction preoperative model for patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Design: Observational prospective multicentre study.

Setting: Six intensive care units in Spain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Awake prone positioning (awake-PP) in non-intubated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients could avoid endotracheal intubation, reduce the use of critical care resources, and improve survival. We aimed to examine whether the combination of high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNO) with awake-PP prevents the need for intubation when compared to HFNO alone.

Methods: Prospective, multicenter, adjusted observational cohort study in consecutive COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) receiving respiratory support with HFNO from 12 March to 9 June 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The clinical course of COVID-19 critically ill patients, during their admission in the intensive care unit (UCI), including medical and infectious complications and support therapies, as well as their association with in-ICU mortality has not been fully reported.

Objective: This study aimed to describe clinical characteristics and clinical course of ICU COVID-19 patients, and to determine risk factors for ICU mortality of COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Prospective, multicentre, cohort study that enrolled critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted into 30 ICUs from Spain and Andorra.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The concept of healthcare-associated infections (as opposed to hospital-acquired infections) in intraabdominal infections (IAIs) is scarcely supported by data in the literature. The aim of the present study was to analyse community-onset IAIs (non-postoperative/non-nosocomial) in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs), to investigate differences in resistance patterns linked to healthcare exposure and mortality-associated factors. A one-year prospective observational study (17 Spanish ICUs) was performed distributing cases as healthcare-associated infections (HCAI), community-acquired infections (CAI) and immunocompromised patients (ICP).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To assess the impact of the first months of application of a Code Sepsis in a high complexity hospital, analyzing patient´s epidemiological and clinical characteristics and prognostic factors.

Methods: A long-term observational study was carried out throughout a consecutive period of seven months (February 2015 - September 2015). The relationship with mortality of risk factors, and analytic values was analyzed using uni- and multivariate analyses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The aim of this clinical trial is to examine whether it is possible to reduce postoperative complications using an individualized perioperative ventilatory strategy versus using a standard lung-protective ventilation strategy in patients scheduled for thoracic surgery requiring one-lung ventilation.

Design: International, multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial.

Setting: A network of university hospitals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To study the relationship between the values of SvcO2 and SrcO2 in lung resection with one lung ventilation (OLV) and changes in these variables and mean arterial pressure (MAP) and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) during the perioperative period.

Material And Methods: Prospective, observational study of 25 patients in whom pulmonary resection was performed with OLV. The values of MAP, SpO2, SvO2, and SrcO2 were recorded at 6 different times: 1)baseline; 2)double-lung ventilation before the OLV (VBP1); 3)during OLV; 4)after double-lung ventilation (VBP2); 5)30minutes after surgery, and 6)6hours after surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: An accurate and readily available biomarker for identifying patients with complicated intra-abdominal infection needing special attention in critical care units because of their greater risk of dying would be of value for intensivists.

Methods: A multi-center, observational, retrospective study explored blood lactate, C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) concentrations, and also Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) as mortality predictors in all adult patients with complicated intra-abdominal infection (cIAI) admitted to Surgical Critical Care Units (SCCUs) for ≥48 h in four Spanish hospitals (June 2012-June 2013). Logistic regression models (step-wise procedure) were constructed using as dependent variables "intra-SCCU mortality" or "overall mortality," and variables showing differences (p≤0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Postoperative pulmonary and non-pulmonary complications are common problems that increase morbidity and mortality in surgical patients, even though the incidence has decreased with the increased use of protective lung ventilation strategies. Previous trials have focused on standard strategies in the intraoperative or postoperative period, but without personalizing these strategies to suit the needs of each individual patient and without considering both these periods as a global perioperative lung-protective approach. The trial presented here aims at comparing postoperative complications when using an individualized ventilatory management strategy in the intraoperative and immediate postoperative periods with those when using a standard protective ventilation strategy in patients scheduled for major abdominal surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Based on tigecycline linear pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics, dose increases have been advocated to maximise activity especially when severe infections with high bacterial load and/or multidrug resistance are suspected. This practice-based observational study explored factors associated with tigecycline administration (100 mg/12h, 200 mg loading dose) in severely ill patients with complicated intra-abdominal infection (cIAI) admitted to four Surgical Critical Care Units (SCCUs).

Methods: Medical records of all consecutive adult patients with cIAI and controlled infection source requiring surgery and admission for ≥ 48 h to SCCU were reviewed and divided into patients treated with a regimen including tigecycline (tigecycline group) and those that not (control group).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Because procalcitonin (PCT) might be surrogate for antimicrobial discontinuation in general intensive care units (ICUs), this study explored its use for secondary peritonitis in 4 surgical ICUs (SICUs).

Methods: A retrospective study including all consecutive patients with secondary peritonitis, controlled infection source, requiring surgery, and at least 48-hour SICU admission was performed (June 2012-June 2013). Patients were divided following notations in medical records into PCT-guided (notation of PCT-based antibiotic discontinuation) and non-PCT-guided (no notation) groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

ICUs are areas where resistance problems are the largest, and these constitute a major problem for the intensivist's clinical practice. Main resistance phenotypes among nosocomial microbiota are (i) vancomycin-resistance/heteroresistance and tolerance in grampositives (MRSA, enterococci) and (ii) efflux pumps/enzymatic resistance mechanisms (ESBLs, AmpC, metallo-betalactamases) in gramnegatives. These phenotypes are found at different rates in pathogens causing respiratory (nosocomial pneumonia/ventilator-associated pneumonia), bloodstream (primary bacteremia/catheter-associated bacteremia), urinary, intraabdominal and surgical wound infections and endocarditis in the ICU.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF