A Quality Improvement Initiative to Implement Focused Family Meetings in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit: Does It Matter?

Communication with families is essential to improve satisfaction, especially in the critical care setting. We sought to identify patients who were not recovering as expected and to improve communication with their families. We implemented a novel algorithm, incorporating clinical and social criteria, to determine which patients could benefit from additional communication.

Unique multidisciplinary approach in a patient with small bowel obstruction and chronic mesenteric ischemia.

Management of small bowel obstruction (SBO) in patients with symptomatic chronic mesenteric ischemia is a phenomenon that has not been previously described in the literature. This is an index case report describing the utilization of a multidisciplinary approach in a patient that suffered from SBO from cecal perforation with history of chronic mesenteric ischemia attributed to superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and celiac trunk stenosis. The patient was a 70-year-old female with recent diagnosis of ischemic colitis and chronic mesenteric ischemia, found to have high-grade SBO with transition point in the right lower quadrant.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy following blunt trauma: Early recognition and diagnosis.

Background: Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (TTC) is characterized by reversible left ventricular apical ballooning in the absence of angiographically significant coronary artery disease. While TTC is usually preceded by an emotionally stressful event, physical trauma has been documented as a precipitating incident as well.

Case Summary: An 82-year-old female with no past medical history, presented to the emergency department following a motor vehicle collision.

Superior mesenteric artery thrombosis in a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia and .

COVID-19, a novel respiratory viral illness, has spread globally and led to over 111 million cases worldwide. Most commonly, patients present with respiratory symptoms, and those with increased severity progress to acute hypoxic respiratory failure. Additionally, a portion of patients are noted to have coagulopathy and are considered to be at an increased risk for thromboembolic events.