Economic evaluations performed alongside randomized implementation trials in clinical settings: a systematic review.

Background: Economic evaluations alongside implementation trials compare the outcomes and costs of competing implementation strategies to identify the most efficient strategies. The aims of this systematic review were to investigate how economic evaluations are performed in randomized implementation trials in clinical settings and to assess the quality of these evaluations.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted on 23 March 2023 to identify studies that reported on economic evaluations embedded in randomized implementation trials in clinical settings.

Association of perioperative transfusion of fresh frozen plasma and outcomes after cardiac surgery.

Background: Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion is used to manage coagulopathy and bleeding in cardiac surgery patients despite uncertainty about its safety and effectiveness.

Methods: We performed a propensity score matched analysis of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons National Cardiac Surgery Database including patients from 39 centres from 2005 to 2018. We investigated the association of perioperative FFP transfusion with mortality and other clinical outcomes.

Safety-related outcomes for patients with a tracheostomy and the use of flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) for assessment and management of swallowing: A systematic review.

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine safety-related outcomes for patients with tracheostomy after flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) to assess and manage their swallow, when compared to other non-instrumental swallow assessments such as clinical swallowing examination (CSE) and/or a modified Evans blue dye test (MEBDT).

Method: Three databases were searched for articles referring to safety-related outcome data for adults with a tracheostomy, who underwent FEES and CSE and/or MEBDT. Articles were screened using predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria.

The Australian Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative: Systematic Review and Consensus Process to Determine the Predictive Value of Pre-existing Health Conditions for People with Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

The first aim of the Australian Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative (AUS-TBI) encompasses development of a set of measures that comprehensively predict outcomes for people with moderate-severe TBI across Australia. This process engaged diverse stakeholders and information sources across six areas: social, health, and clinical factors; biological markers; treatments; and longer-term outcomes. Here, we report the systematic review of pre-existing health conditions as predictors of outcome for people with moderate-severe TBI.

The identification of an optimal body size parameter to adjust skeletal muscle area on chest CT in COVID-19 patients.

Objectives: The most efficient way to adjust skeletal muscle area (SMA) derived from chest CT to body size remains unclear. We hypothesized that vertebral body area (VBA) measurement would allow such efficient adjustment.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of chest CT imaging in a cohort of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Persistent Critical Illness and Long-Term Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: A nontrivial number of patients in ICUs experience persistent critical illness (PerCI), a phenomenon in which features of the ICU course more consistently predict mortality than the initial indication for admission. We aimed to describe PerCI among patients with critical illness caused by COVID-19, and these patients' short- and long-term outcomes.

Design: Multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Candidate Kidney Protective Strategies for Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery: A Secondary Analysis of the RELIEF Trial Cohort.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common after major abdominal surgery. Selection of candidate kidney protective strategies for testing in large trials should be based on robust preliminary evidence.

Methods: A secondary analysis of the Restrictive versus Liberal Fluid Therapy in Major Abdominal Surgery (RELIEF) trial was conducted in adult patients undergoing major abdominal surgery and randomly assigned to a restrictive or liberal perioperative fluid regimen.

Regional Practice Variation and Outcomes in the Standard Versus Accelerated Initiation of Renal Replacement Therapy in Acute Kidney Injury (STARRT-AKI) Trial: A Post Hoc Secondary Analysis.

Objectives: Among patients with severe acute kidney injury (AKI) admitted to the ICU in high-income countries, regional practice variations for fluid balance (FB) management, timing, and choice of renal replacement therapy (RRT) modality may be significant.

Design: Secondary post hoc analysis of the STandard vs. Accelerated initiation of Renal Replacement Therapy in Acute Kidney Injury (STARRT-AKI) trial (ClinicalTrials.

FRailty in Australian patients admitted to Intensive care unit after eLective CANCER-related SURGery: a retrospective multicentre cohort study (FRAIL-CANCER-SURG study).

Background: The association between frailty and short-term and long-term outcomes in patients receiving elective surgery for cancer remains unclear, particularly in those admitted to the ICU.

Methods: In this multicentre retrospective cohort study, we included adults ≥16 yr old admitted to 158 ICUs in Australia from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2022 after elective surgery for cancer. We investigated the association between frailty and survival time up to 4 yr (primary outcome), adjusting for a prespecified set of covariates.

Flow characterization of Maquet and Bio-Medicus multi-stage drainage cannulae during venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Background: Drainage cannulae extract blood from a patient during venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO), a treatment that temporarily supports patients undergoing severe heart and/or lung dysfunction. Currently, the two most commonly used multi-stage drainage cannulae are manufactured by Maquet and Bio-Medicus, but their designs vary in many aspects which impacts the generated flow dynamics. Therefore, this study aimed to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to explore the flow characteristics of the aforementioned cannulae and their impact on complications such as thrombosis.

Renin as a Prognostic Marker in Intensive Care and Perioperative Settings: A Scoping Review.

Serum renin increases in response to sympathetic nerve activation and hypotension. Recent studies have reported the association of serum renin levels with adverse clinical outcomes in acute care settings. This scoping review aimed to systematically review the available literature on renin as a prognostic marker in intensive care and perioperative patients.

Impact of postoperative hyperlactatemia in orthotopic heart transplantation.

Background: Hyperlactatemia (HL) is a common phenomenon after cardiac surgery which is related to tissue hypoperfusion and hypoxia and associated with poor outcomes. It is also often seen in the postoperative period after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHTx), but the association between HL and outcomes after OHTx is not well known. We evaluated the incidence and outcome of HL after OHTx.

Oncology and intensive care doctors' perception of intensive care admission of cancer patients: A cross-sectional national survey.

Introduction: Prognosis in oncology has improved with early diagnosis and novel therapies. However, critical illness continues to trigger clinical and ethical dilemmas for the treating oncology and intensive care unit (ICU) doctors.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions of oncology and ICU doctors in managing critically ill cancer patients.

Different ventilation intensities among various categories of patients ventilated for reasons other than ARDS--A pooled analysis of 4 observational studies.

Purpose: We investigated driving pressure (ΔP) and mechanical power (MP) and associations with clinical outcomes in critically ill patients ventilated for reasons other than ARDS.

Materials And Methods: Individual patient data analysis of a pooled database that included patients from four observational studies of ventilation. ΔP and MP were compared among invasively ventilated non-ARDS patients with sepsis, with pneumonia, and not having sepsis or pneumonia.

"How Do I Test the Waters? How Do I Go Forward?": Codesigning a Supportive Pathway after Critical Illness.

Long-term recovery after critical illness can be affected by post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), a significant burden, which can impact return to activities and work. There is a need for streamlined support for intensive care unit (ICU) patients in their recovery while enduring PICS symptoms. To explore critical illness recovery from the experiences, perspectives, and beliefs of former ICU patients, their caregivers, and multidisciplinary clinicians to design a future rehabilitation intervention prototype to support ICU patients.