Surgical intensive care

Patients for intensive care in surgery can be divided into 3 groups: 1. Patients in poor preoperative conditions which should be corrected before surgery is performed; 2. Patients with extensive operations and expected or unexpected postoperative complications; 3. Patients with extensive traumas. --In the postwar period medicine developed at a tremendous speed. Modern intensive treatment of those patients with managed by a new group of doctors who had based their primary training in Surgery and continued their professional career in Anaesthesiology. In the last two decades, however, pathophysiologic thinking found its way and a new type of surgeon emerged. Special fields such as cardiovascular-endocrinological-gastroenterological surgery etc, appeared. Nowadays preoperative as well as postoperative treatment is considered to be an important factor in surgery and applied by all specialists. --Anaesthiologists however still play a major role in intensive medicine for surgical patients. But due to the fact that surgical training only plays a little or no part in their professional training, their role is hardly more than that of an important and necessary consultant. A new type of a doctor for surgical intensive medicine may perhaps develop somewhere in the future, but at present successful intensive care in surgical patients can only be achieved by perfect cooperation.     

Imaging methods in intensive care

Imaging procedures are important for diagnosis and surveillance of patients in intensive care units. Radiologic examination, ultrasound and echocardiography are of paramount importance because they can be done bedside. Portable chest x-ray examination is the procedure of choice for documentation of tubes, lines and devices, estimation of cardiopulmonary function, demonstration of pulmonary edema, ARDS pneumonia, atelectasis and pneumothorax Plainfilm radiologic imaging of the abdomen is indicated when perforation ileus or acute intestinal pseudoobstruction is suspected Echocardiography can give information about ventricular function, pericardial effusion, cardiac valves, functional importance and complications of myocardial infarction, and hemodynamic changes of pulmonary embolism. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is the method of choice when endocarditis, aortic dissection or cardiac thromboembolism is considered. Ultrasound can show many pathologic changes important for the management of intensive care patients concerning liver, gallbladder, bile duct, pancreas, kidney, spleen, pleural space and vessels. Other imaging procedures such as CT, methods of nuclear medicine, MRT, angiography etc. are done outside the intensive care unit and therefore need a more restricted indication.     

Noninvasive ventilation in intensive care

Non-invasive ventilation has been in use for many years to provide long-term home ventilatory support to patients with chronic respiratory failure. In recent years, it has emerged on the intensive care scene as a means of avoiding intubation in acute respiratory failure. The results of several studies indicate that such an approach can lead to a reduction in mortality and duration of hospital stay compared to conventional mechanical ventilation with endotracheal intubation. The purpose of this article is to explore the various ventilatory techniques available, the choice of respirator and ventilatory mode in various clinical conditions, and to discuss some of the logistics involved in the optimal use of this technique.     

Prognostic scores in intensive care

Type X collagen has so far not been reported to occur in human intervertebral discs. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate the occurrence of type X collagen in human lumbar intervertebral discs during ageing and degeneration. Ninety intervertebral discs with adjacent endplates were excised in toto from individuals (0-86 years) without known spinal disease and were processed for routine decalcified histology. Appropriate slices of each disc were processed for immunohistochemistry using a type-specific, monoclonal antibody raised against human type X collagen. Each intervertebral disc was examined for macroscopic and histomorphological features of disc degeneration. Immunohistochemically, a positive specific type X staining was observed in the hypertrophic zone of the growth plate and only in the interstitial matrix of juvenile (<2 years) nucleus pulposus. In adult discs, type X collagen could be localized in conjunction with advanced disc degeneration and first occurred in the disc matrix (i.e., pericellular region) of a 47-year-old specimen. Positive type X staining of the disc matrix was more frequently found in senile (>70 years) discs with end stages of disc degeneration. This study provides the first evidence for the occurrence of type X collagen in human lumbar intervertebral discs and it appears that type X collagen is re-expressed in late stages of disc degeneration.     

Bronchoscopy in the intensive care unit

With the prevalence of bronchopulmonary disease in the intensive care unit, bronchoscopy has become an essential tool for the management of patients. This article describes the variety of situations in which bronchoscopy can be of assistance in establishing diagnosis, managing the difficult airway, and supporting the patient's suffering of trauma, hemoptysis, atelectasis, and pneumonia.     

Cost-analyses of intensive care units

The purpose of the paper is to study methods for costing hospital services specifically in relation to multi-unit studies of activity, case-mix, severity-of-illness, outcome, and resource use in adult intensive care units. The article reviews 20 published cost studies of adult intensive care units. The studies are all published in English and are both European and American. Cost of intensive care therapy is compared across the 20 studies. However, as stressed in the article, to compare costs of intensive care therapy across units is not possible for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is the fact that the studies employ different approaches to costing and thereby introduce a methodological bias. In addition, the costing methodology applied in the majority of the studies has been wrongly specified in relation to the purpose and the viewpoint of the studies. The article concludes that the methodologies for costing intensive care unit therapy are flawed and fail to provide correct answers. In addition, the study question is in most studies not adequately specified and the cost concept used in the studies is not tailored to the purposes of the studies.     

Bedside tracheostomy in the intensive care unit

OBJECTIVE: To prove that tracheostomy performed at the bedside in the intensive care unit is a safe, cost-effective procedure. DESIGN: Retrospective review of all adult patients undergoing elective bedside tracheostomy in the intensive care unit between January 1983 and December 1988. Two hundred four patients were identified. SETTING: A private 1200-bed tertiary care center with a 120-bed critical care facility. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Major and minor perioperative complications, cost savings, and comparison of risk between bedside tracheostomy and that performed in the operating room. RESULTS: There were six major complications (2.9%): one death due to tube obstruction, two bleeding episodes requiring reoperation, one tube entrapment requiring operative removal, one nonfatal respiratory arrest, and one bilateral pneumothorax; and seven minor complications (3.4%): five episodes of minor bleeding, one tube dislodgement in a tracheostomy with a well-developed tract, and one episode of mucus plugging. One late complication (tracheal stenosis) was identified. CONCLUSIONS: Bedside tracheostomy in the intensive care unit can be performed with morbidity and mortality rates comparable to operative tracheostomy. In addition, it provides a significant cost savings for the patient.     

Acute corticosteroid myopathy in intensive care patients

Several recent studies have attributed the occurrence of acute myopathy in intensive care unit patients to the combination of corticosteroids and neuromuscular junction blocking agents (NMBAs) used for mechanical ventilation. We present 4 patients who developed acute myopathy after administration of high doses of glucocorticoids during sedation with propofol without any NMBAs. All patients had elevated creatine kinase levels. Electrophysiological studies indicated normal motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities but reduced motor nerve response amplitudes. Needle electromyography identified abnormal spontaneous activity; motor unit potentials were polyphasic of low amplitude and short duration, characteristic of a myopathic process. Muscle biopsy demonstrated a prominent acute necrotizing myopathy in all 4 patients with a loss of thick filaments. Our observations support glucocorticoids rather than NMBAs as the main offending drug in acute corticosteroid myopathy. The predisposing factor should be the hypersensitivity of paralyzed muscles to corticosteroids regardless of the drug inducing paralysis: NMBAs or propofol.     

Hematologic emergencies in the intensive care unit

Hematologic emergencies in the oncology population may require an admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, hypercalcemia, tumor lysis syndrome, and disseminated intravascular coagulation are diseases defined in this article. These are common conditions in oncology patients that are reduced or prevented with close monitoring and accurate assessments. The purpose of this article is to introduce intensive care nurses to these disease entities so they will have a better understanding of the care involved with an oncology patient in the ICU unit.     

Fungal infection in the intensive care unit

Fungal infection in critically ill patients is an increasingly prevalent problem. Candida spp. cause the majority of these infections in ICU. They occur most commonly in patients with severe underlying illness, multiple courses of antibiotics and intravascular catheters. Clinical diagnosis is difficult due to nonspecific signs and the frequent occurrence of widespread superficial colonization with Candida spp. in ventilated patients. Most patients are diagnosed using inferential evidence of infection, such as persistent pyrexia despite antibiotics, raised serum C-reactive protein and the presence of individual risk factors. Amphotericin B and fluconazole are the most commonly used anti-fungals dependent on the identity of the fungus. Most of these infections are endogenous; however, a proportion may be caused via the hands of healthcare staff or contaminated medical equipment.     

Candidemia in the neonatal intensive care unit

The hospital records of 18 infants (9 males & 9 females) with one or more positive cultures for Candida species were studied retrospectively in an attempt to define the characteristics, associated factors and treatment for candidemia in the neonatal intensive care unit. The number of patients have increased recently and the mortality rate is 56% (10/18). The Candida species isolated from blood were Candida albicans in 16 cases and Candida parapsilosis in 2 cases. Fever, not-doing-well, and abdominal distention were the most common presentations, prompting us to the initial impression of bacterial sepsis and/or necrotizing enterocolitis. Eleven associated factors for candidemia were relating to the measures and therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit, such as prolonged use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, parenteral hyperalimentation etc. All of these 18 patients were treated with intravenous amphotericin B. Six patients were given adequate total dose (> 25 mg/Kg), while 12 patients underwent inadequate treatment (3.7 +/- 2.9 mg/Kg). The 10 fatal patients belonged to the inadequate treatment group. As there is continual progress in neonatal intensive care units, candidemia is becoming an increasing common problem and which deserves attention.