A novel technique for assessment of post-extubation airway obstruction can successfully replace the conventional cuff leak test: a pilot study.

Background: Post-extubation airway obstruction is an important complication of tracheal intubation. The cuff leak test is traditionally used to estimate the risk of this complication. However, the cuff leak test parameters are not constant and may depend on the respiratory system and ventilator settings.

A novel scoring system for predicting the neurologic prognosis prior to the initiation of induced hypothermia in cases of post-cardiac arrest syndrome: the CAST score.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop a scoring system for identifying the post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) patients with a good potential for recovery prior to the initiation of induced therapeutic hypothermia.

Methods: A multi-center, retrospective, observational study was performed. Data of a total of 151 consecutive adults who underwent induced hypothermia after cardiac arrest (77 learning cases from two hospitals and 74 validation cases from two other hospitals) were analyzed.

[Severe infection in critical emergency care].

In the emergency and critical care medicine, infection is easy to merge to various basic conditions and diseases. In the social structure aging in critical care, the immune weakness was revealed as the result of severe infection and septic shock in the reduced function of neutrophils and lymphocytes. In the life-saving emergency care, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic renal failure and lever dysfunction are often observed, and the underlying diseases have the foundation of biological invasion after a first inflammatory attack of surgery, trauma, burn, and systemic injury.

Landiolol reduces hemodynamic responses to bronchoscopy-assisted suctioning in intubated ICU patients.

Landiolol is an ultra-short-acting β1-selective antagonist developed in Japan that was recently approved for the treatment of tachycardia in intensive care units (ICUs). This study investigated the protective effects of landiolol against the cardiovascular responses during bronchoscopic endotracheal suctioning. This study enrolled 15 patients requiring orotracheal intubation in an ICU.

Continuous administration of landiolol reduced QT dispersion in postoperative patients.

Study Objective: To determine the changes in QT dispersion (QTD) in the standard electrocardiogram (ECG) of postoperative patients and the effect of landiolol on QTD.

Design: Randomized, prospective, double-blinded study.

Patients: 40 postsurgical patients.

Development and validation of the Calculation of post-Operative Risk in Emergency Surgery (CORES) model.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to establish a model to predict the post-operative mortality for emergency surgeries.

Methods: A regression model was constructed to predict in-hospital mortality using data from a cohort of 479 cases of emergency surgery performed in a Japanese referral hospital. The discrimination power of the current model termed the Calculation of post-Operative Risk in Emergency Surgery (CORES), and Portsmouth modification of the Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and morbidity (P-POSSUM) were validated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in another cohort of 494 cases in the same hospital (validation subset).

Subcutaneous emphysema and ultrasound sonography.

Subcutaneous emphysema is not a rare complication in intensive care unit patients. Recently, ultrasound guidance for central venous puncture is becoming popular; however, the information on imaging for subcutaneous emphysema is limited. We encountered a patient complicated with severe pneumomediastinum and subsequent subcutaneous emphysema.

[Two cases of anaphylaxis after induction of general anesthesia using rocuronium].

We experienced two cases of anaphylaxis during anesthesia using rocuronium in two months. In both cases, we carried out intradermal test and positive reaction occurred with rocuronium. In both cases, the second anesthesia without neuromuscular blockade was uneventful.