Impact of a posttraumatic cerebral infarction on outcome in patients with TBI: the Italian multicenter cohort INCEPT study.

Background: Post-traumatic cerebral infarction (PTCI) is common after traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is unclear what the occurrence of a PTCI is, how it impacts the long-term outcome, and whether it adds incremental prognostic value to established outcome predictors.

Methods: This was a prospective multicenter cohort study of moderate and severe TBI patients.

Evaluation of two neck ultrasound measurements as predictors of difficult direct laryngoscopy: A prospective observational study.

Background: Unpredictable difficult laryngoscopy remains a challenge for anaesthesiologists, especially if difficult ventilation occurs during standard laryngoscopy. Accurate airway assessment should always be performed, but the common clinical screening tests have shown low sensitivity and specificity with a limited predictive value. Ultrasound-based airway assessment has been proposed recently as a useful, simple, noninvasive bedside tool as an adjunct to clinical methods, but to date, few studies are available about the potential role of ultrasound in difficult airway evaluation, and these are mostly limited to specific groups of patients.

Implementation of radial arterial access for cardiac interventions: a strong case for quality assurance protocols by the nursing staff.

Background: Radial arterial access is becoming increasingly popular for coronary angiography and angioplasty. The technique is, however, more demanding than femoral arterial access, and hemostasis is not care-free. A quality assurance program was run by our nursing staff, with patient follow-up, to monitor radial arterial access implementation in our laboratory.

Vascular access complications after cardiac catheterisation: a nurse-led quality assurance program.

Background: Vascular access complications may be a cause of discomfort, prolonged hospital stay, and impaired outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation.

Aims: To assess vascular access complication in our patients with/without the use of closure devices as a first local benchmark for subsequent quality improvement.

Methods: A nurse-led single-centre prospective survey of all vascular access complications in consecutive patients submitted to cardiac catheterisation during 4 months.