Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Elective surgery cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic: global predictive modelling to inform surgical recovery plans.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine hospital services globally. This study estimated the total number of adult elective operations that would be cancelled worldwide during the 12 weeks of peak disruption due to COVID-19. METHODS: A global expert response study was conducted to elicit projections for the proportion of elective surgery that would be cancelled or postponed during the 12 weeks of peak disruption. A Bayesian β-regression model was used to estimate 12-week cancellation rates for 190 countries. Elective surgical case-mix data, stratified by specialty and indication (surgery for cancer versus benign disease), were determined. This case mix was applied to country-level surgical volumes. The 12-week cancellation rates were then applied to these figures to calculate the total number of cancelled operations. RESULTS: The best estimate was that 28 404 603 operations would be cancelled or postponed during the peak 12 weeks of disruption due to COVID-19 (2 367 050 operations per week). Most would be operations for benign disease (90·2 per cent, 25 638 922 of 28 404 603). The overall 12-week cancellation rate would be 72·3 per cent. Globally, 81·7 per cent of operations for benign conditions (25 638 922 of 31 378 062), 37·7 per cent of cancer operations (2 324 070 of 6 162 311) and 25·4 per cent of elective caesarean sections (441 611 of 1 735 483) would be cancelled or postponed. If countries increased their normal surgical volume by 20 per cent after the pandemic, it would take a median of 45 weeks to clear the backlog of operations resulting from COVID-19 disruption. CONCLUSION: A very large number of operations will be cancelled or postponed owing to disruption caused by COVID-19. Governments should mitigate against this major burden on patients by developing recovery plans and implementing strategies to restore surgical activity safely

Diagnostic markers of sepsis in the emergency department

Sepsis is defined as the systemic inflammatory response to infection. However, changes in body temperature, heart and respiratory rate and white cell count (the "SIRS" criteria) are not specific enough to identify infected patients in the emergency department. Among many biological parameters, measurement of lactate, central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2), C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) are of particular interest. Early (within 6h) and goal-directed (ScvO2 > 70%) resuscitation increases survival in severe sepsis and septic shock, particularly in patients with high lactate clearances. CRP and PCT are both useful markers of sepsis but PCT increases earlier, better differentiates infective from non-infective causes of inflammation, more closely correlates with sepsis severity in terms of shock and organ dysfunction and better predicts outcome when followed in time. However, PCT measurement is more costly, time-consuming, and not widespread available. New markers for rapid diagnosis of sepsis (e.g. TREM-1) are under investigation

Procedural and educational interventions to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia rate: two years of a national registration programme

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Monitoring the safety of antiepileptic medication in a child with Brugada syndrome.

Item does not contain fulltextWe report the case of an 8 year old boy presenting with episodes of decreased consciousness. As the boy's father died of a sudden cardiac death (SCD) at the age of 31 years, among other causes a Brugada syndrome (BS) was suspected. The boy was further examined at the UZ Brussels Heart Rhythm Management Center. The intravenous administration of ajmaline confirmed a BS without ventricular arrhythmias. Syncope in children can be an imminent sign of BS. BS is a life threatening condition that can deteriorate into SCD. The boy presented with episodes of lowered consciousness, transpiration and paleness. Readmission for further investigation was required. Clinical observation and continuous registered EEG during sleep showed multiple epileptical incidents. Hence the child was diagnosed with new onset epilepsy. For initiation of antiepileptic therapy, the patient was admitted at the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Close clinical observation and cardiovascular monitoring with continuous 12-lead ECG registration were performed during orally administered sodium valproic acid. During this anticonvulsive treatment in a child with documented BS no significant alterations in ECG-findings were observed. In this particular patient sodium valproic acid treatment can be estimated as a safe anticonvulsive therapy

Impact of a VAP bundle in Belgian intensive care units

Background: In order to decrease the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in Belgium, a national campaign for implementing a VAP bundle involving assessment of sedation, cuff pressure control, oral care with chlorhexidine and semirecumbent position, was launched in 2011–2012. This report will document the impact of this campaign. Methods: On 1 day, once a year from 2010 till 2016, except in 2012, Belgian ICUs were questioned about their ventilated patients. For each of these, data about the application of the bundle and the possible treatment for VAP were recorded. Results: Between 36.6 and 54.8% of the 120 Belgian ICUs participated in the successive surveys. While the characteristics of ventilated patients remained similar throughout the years, the percentage of ventilated patients and especially the duration of ventilation significantly decreased before and after the national VAP bundle campaign. Ventilator care also profoundly changed: Controlling cuff pressure, head positioning above 30° were obtained in more than 90% of cases. Oral care was more frequently performed within a day, using more concentrated solutions of chlorhexidine. Subglottic suctioning also was used but in only 24.7% of the cases in the last years. Regarding the prevalence of VAP, it significantly decreased from 28% of ventilated patients in 2010 to 10.1% in 2016 (p ≤ 0.0001). Conclusion: Although a causal relationship cannot be inferred from these data, the successive surveys revealed a potential impact of the VAP bundle campaign on both the respiratory care of ventilated patients and the prevalence of VAP in Belgian ICUs encouraging them to follow the guidelines. © 2018, The Author(s)

Mild therapeutic hypothermia to improve the neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest

Background: Cardiac arrest with widespread cerebral ischemia frequently leads to severe neurologic impairment. We studied whether mild systemic hypothermia increases the rate of neurologic recovery after resuscitation from cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation. Methods: In this multicenter trial with blinded assessment of the outcome, patients who had been resuscitated after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation were randomly assigned to undergo therapeutic hypothermia (target temperature, 32degreesC to 34degreesC, measured in the bladder) over a period of 24 hours or to receive standard treatment with normothermia. The primary end point was a favorable neurologic outcome within six months after cardiac arrest; secondary end points were mortality within six months and the rate of complications within seven days. Results: Seventy-five of the 136 patients in the hypothermia group for whom data were available (55 percent) had a favorable neurologic outcome (cerebral-performance category, 1 [good recovery] or 2 [moderate disability]), as compared with 54 of 137 (39 percent) in the normothermia group (risk ratio, 1.40; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.08 to 1.81). Mortality at six months was 41 percent in the hypothermia group (56 of 137 patients died), as compared with 55 percent in the normothermia group (76 of 138 patients; risk ratio, 0.74; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.58 to 0.95). The complication rate did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusions: In patients who have been successfully resuscitated after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation, therapeutic mild hypothermia increased the rate of a favorable neurologic outcome and reduced mortality. Copyright (R) 2002 Massachusetts Medical Society