Should fresh blood be recommended for intensive care patients?

Fresh blood has many potential advantages over older blood, but there is no evidence that these properties translate into clinical benefit for intensive care patients. The observational multicenter study by Karam and colleagues provides some evidence suggesting that blood stored for less than 14 days is better than older blood in terms of new organ failure and reduction in length of stay in pediatric intensive care units. Though in favor of using young blood, this study suffers from several limitations. As a consequence, it is ethical and certainly pertinent to conduct a randomized clinical trial in order to test the hypothesis that fresh blood might reduce mortality. The rationale is strong and the potential benefit of fresh blood is substantial

The Durban World Congress Ethics Round Table conference report: I. Differences between withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments

Introduction: Withholding life-sustaining treatments (WHLST) and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments (WDLST) occur in most intensive care units (ICUs) around the world to varying degrees. Methods: Speakers from invited faculty of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine Congress in 2013 with an interest in ethics were approached to participate in an ethics round table. Participants were asked if they agreed with the statement "There is no moral difference between withholding and withdrawing a mechanical ventilator." Differences between WHLST and WDLST were discussed. Official statements relating to WHLST and WDLST from intensive care societies, professional bodies, and government statements were sourced, documented, and compared. Results: Sixteen respondents stated that there was no moral difference between withholding or withdrawing a mechanical ventilator, 2 were neutral, and 4 stated that there was a difference. Most ethicists and medical organizations state that there is no moral difference between WHLST and WDLST. A review of guidelines noted that all but 1 of 29 considered WHLST and WDLST as ethically or legally equivalent. Conclusions: Most respondents, practicing intensivists, stated that there is no difference between WHLST and WDLST, supporting most ethicists and professional organizations. A minority of physicians still do not accept their equivalency

Elderly Patients in the Intensive Care Unit

Very old intensive care unit (ICU) patients, aged ≥ 80 years, are by no mean newcomers, but during the last decades their impact on ICU admissions has grown in parallel with the increase in the number of elderly persons in the community. Hence, from being a “rarity,” they have now become common and constitute one of the largest subgroups within intensive care, and may easily be the largest group in 20 years and make up 30 to 40% of all ICU admissions. Obviously, they are not admitted because they are old but because they are with various diseases and problems like any other ICU patient. However, their age and the presence of common geriatric syndromes such as frailty, cognitive decline, reduced activity of daily life, and several comorbid conditions makes this group particularly challenging, with a high mortality rate. In this review, we will highlight aspects of current and future epidemiology and current knowledge on outcomes, and describe the effects of the aforementioned geriatric syndromes. The major challenge for the coming decades will be the question of whom to treat and the quest for better triage criteria not based on age alone. Challenges with the level of care during the ICU stay will also be discussed. A stronger relationship with geriatricians should be promoted to create a better and more holistic care and aftercare for survivors.acceptedVersio

An integrated approach for prescribing fewer chest x-rays in the ICU

Chest x-rays (CXRs) are the main imaging tool in intensive care units (ICUs). CXRs also are associated with concerns inherent to their use, considering both healthcare organization and patient perspectives. In recent years, several studies have focussed on the feasibility of lowering the number of bedside CXRs performed in the ICU. Such a decrease may result from two independent and complementary processes: a raw reduction of CXRs due to the elimination of unnecessary investigations, and replacement of the CXR by an alternative technique. The goal of this review is to outline emblematic examples corresponding to these two processes. The first part of the review concerns the accumulation of evidence-based data for abandoning daily routine CXRs in mechanically ventilated patients and adopting an on-demand prescription strategy. The second part of the review addresses the use of alternative techniques to CXRs. This part begins with the presentation of ultrasonography or capnography combined with epigastric auscultation for ensuring the correct position of enteral feeding tubes. Ultrasonography is then also presented as an alternative to CXR for diagnosing and monitoring pneumothoraces, as well as a valuable post-procedural technique after central venous catheter insertion. The combination of the emblematic examples presented in this review supports an integrated global approach for decreasing the number of CXRs ordered in the ICU

Designing and conducting a cluster-randomized trial of ICU admission for the elderly patients: the ICE-CUB 2 study

International audienceBackgroundThe benefit of ICU admission for elderly patients remains controversial. This report highlights the methodology, the feasibility of and the ethical and logistical constraints in designing and conducting a cluster-randomized trial of intensive care unit (ICU) admission for critically ill elderly patients.MethodsWe designed an interventional open-label cluster-randomized controlled trial in 24 centres in France. Clusters were healthcare centres with at least one emergency department (ED) and one ICU. Healthcare centres were randomly assigned either to recommend a systematic ICU admission (intervention group) or to follow standard practices regarding ICU admission (control group). Clusters were stratified by the number of ED annual visits (44,616 visits), the presence or absence of a geriatric ward and the geographical area (Paris area vs other regions in France). All elderly patients (≥75 years of age) who got to the ED were assessed for eligibility. Patients were included if they had one of the pre-established critical conditions, a preserved functional status as assessed by an ADL scale ≥4 (0 = very dependent, 6 = independent), a preserved nutritional status (subjectively assessed by physicians) and without active cancer. Exclusion criteria were an ED stay >24 h, a secondary referral to the ED and refusal to participate. The primary outcome was the mortality at 6 months calculated at the individual patient level. Secondary outcomes were ICU and hospital mortality, as well as ADL scale and quality of life (as assessed by the SF-12 Health Survey) at 6 months.ResultsBetween January 2012 and April 2015, 3036 patients were included in the trial, 1518 patients in 11 clusters allocated to intervention group and 1518 patients in 13 clusters allocated to standard care. There were 51 protocol violations.ConclusionsThe ICE-CUB 2 trial was deemed feasible and ethically acceptable. The ICE-CUB 2 trial will be the first cluster-randomized trial to assess the benefits of ICU admission for selected elderly patients on long-term mortality

Errors in administration of parenteral drugs in intensive care units: multinational prospective study

Objective To assess on a multinational level the frequency, characteristics, contributing factors, and preventive measures of administration errors in parenteral medication in intensive care units

Impact of early enteral versus parenteral nutrition on mortality in patients requiring mechanical ventilation and catecholamines: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (NUTRIREA-2)

BACKGROUND: Nutritional support is crucial to the management of patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and the most commonly prescribed treatment in intensive care units (ICUs). International guidelines consistently indicate that enteral nutrition (EN) should be preferred over parenteral nutrition (PN) whenever possible and started as early as possible. However, no adequately designed study has evaluated whether a specific nutritional modality is associated with decreased mortality. The primary goal of this trial is to assess the hypothesis that early first-line EN, as compared to early first-line PN, decreases day 28 all-cause mortality in patients receiving IMV and vasoactive drugs for shock. METHODS/DESIGN: The NUTRIREA-2 study is a multicenter, open-label, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial comparing early PN versus early EN in critically ill patients requiring IMV for an expected duration of at least 48 hours, combined with vasoactive drugs, for shock. Patients will be allocated at random to first-line PN for at least 72 hours or to first-line EN. In both groups, nutritional support will be started within 24 hours after IMV initiation. Calorie targets will be 20 to 25 kcal/kg/day during the first week, then 25 to 30 kcal/kg/day thereafter. Patients receiving PN may be switched to EN after at least 72 hours in the event of shock resolution (no vasoactive drugs for 24 consecutive hours and arterial lactic acid level below 2 mmol/L). On day 7, all patients receiving PN and having no contraindications to EN will be switched to EN. In both groups, supplemental PN may be added to EN after day 7 in patients with persistent intolerance to EN and inadequate calorie intake. We plan to recruit 2,854 patients at 44 participating ICUs. DISCUSSION: The NUTRIREA-2 study is the first large randomized controlled trial designed to assess the hypothesis that early EN improves survival compared to early PN in ICU patients. Enrollment started on 22 March 2013 and is expected to end in November 2015. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01802099 (registered 27 February 2013)