Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Intensive Care Unit Setting (intensive + care_unit_setting)
Selected AbstractsPercutaneous Tracheostomy: Don't Beat Them, Join Them,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 9 2004D Russ Blankenship MD Abstract Objectives: The introduction of percutaneous tracheostomy (PercTrach) has resulted in tension over the scope of practice between otolaryngologists and pulmonary/critical care (PCC) specialists. We sought to determine the value of a collaborative approach to the performance of PercTrach at the bedside in the intensive care unit setting. Study Design and Methods: A retrospective study of consecutive patients who underwent bedside PercTrach at the Medical College of Georgia between May of 2003 and November of 2003. All cases were performed in conjunction with the PCC team, which typically provided bronchoscopic guidance during the performance of the procedure, whereas the PercTrach was performed by the otolaryngology team, although these roles were occasionally reversed. In all cases, the PercTrach was performed using the Ciaglia Blue Rhino introducer set. Results: Twenty-three patients (12 males, 11 females) with a mean age of 47.6 ± 14.3 (range 23,65) years underwent PercTrach. The procedural times ranged from 7 to 21 minutes, with a mean of 13.9 ± 4.4 minutes; this represented 9.6 minutes on average to insert the tracheostomy tube and an additional 4.3 minutes to completely secure the tracheostomy tube. The time interval from consultation to PercTrach was less than 24 hours in 16 of 23 cases (overall mean time to PercTrach = 41.7 ± 37.1 hours), with delays beyond 24 hours related in most instances to patient stability. Conclusion: A multidisciplinary approach to PercTrach results in a number of clinical and educational benefits. Chief among these benefits is a rapid, cost-effective response to requests for elective tracheostomy. Practicing otolaryngologists with a prior bias against this approach (as we had) should reconsider adopting this revised procedure. [source] Evidence for surviving outer hair cell function in congenitally deaf ears,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 11 2003FRCS (London), FRCS (ORL-HNS), Peter A. Rea MA Abstract Objective/Hypothesis: The hypotheses of the study were that congenital hearing impairment in infants can result from the isolated loss of inner hair cells of the cochlea and that this is shown by the presence of abnormal positive summating potentials on round window electrocochleography. The objectives were to establish the proportion of infants with hearing loss affected, the nature of the cochlear lesion, and its etiology. And to highlight the important implications for otoacoustic emissions testing and universal neonatal screening. Study Design: A prospectively conducted consecutive cohort study with supplemental review of notes was performed. Methods: Four hundred sixty-four children underwent round window electrocochleography and auditory brainstem response testing under general anesthesia to assess suspected hearing loss. The presence of abnormal positive potentials was recorded. Otoacoustic emissions data were collected separately and retrospectively. Results: Three hundred forty-two children had significant bilateral congenital hearing loss. All results were from hearing-impaired children. Abnormal positive potentials were recorded in 73 of 342 children (21%). Eighty-three percent of children with otoacoustic emissions also had abnormal positive potentials, but only 14% of children without otoacoustic emissions had abnormal positive potentials (P < .001). In the neonatal intensive care unit setting, 43% of infants were found to have abnormal positive potentials, whereas only 10% had abnormal positive potentials if not in the neonatal intensive care unit setting (P < .001). Abnormal positive potentials were present in 63% of infants born before 30 weeks gestation and in 14% of infants born at term (P < .001). Abnormal positive potentials were identified in 57% of infants with documented hypoxia and 11% of children with no episodes (P < .001). Otoacoustic emissions were present in 48% of infants from the neonatal intensive care unit, despite their hearing loss. Conclusion: Both otoacoustic emissions and abnormal positive potentials may originate from outer hair cell activity following inner hair cell loss. This may occur in more than 40% of hearing-impaired children in the neonatal intensive care unit setting. Chronic hypoxia is the most likely cause. Otoacoustic emissions testing may not be a suitable screening tool for such infants. [source] Intracortical electroencephalography in acute brain injury,ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2009Allen Waziri MD Objective Continuous electroencephalography (EEG) is used in patients with neurological injury to detect electrographic seizures and clinically important changes in brain function. Scalp EEG has poor spatial resolution, is often contaminated by artifact, and frequently demonstrates activity that is suspicious for but not diagnostic of ictal activity. We hypothesized that bedside placement of an intracortical multicontact electrode would allow for improved monitoring of cortical potentials in critically ill neurological patients. Methods Sixteen individuals with brain injury, requiring invasive neuromonitoring, underwent implantation of an eight-contact minidepth electrode. Results Intracortical EEG (ICE) was successfully performed and compared with scalp EEG in 14 of these 16 individuals. ICE provided considerable improvement in signal-to-noise ratio compared with surface EEG, demonstrating clinically important findings in 12 of 14 patients (86%) including electrographic seizures (n = 10) and acute changes related to secondary neurological injury (n = 2, 1 ischemia, 1 hemorrhage). In patients with electrographic seizures detected by ICE, scalp EEG demonstrated no concurrent ictal activity in six, nonictal-appearing rhythmic delta in two, and intermittently correlated ictal activity in two. In two patients with secondary neurological complications, ICE demonstrated prominent attenuation 2 to 6 hours before changes in other neuromonitoring modalities and more than 8 hours before the onset of clinical deterioration. Interpretation ICE can provide high-fidelity intracranial EEG in an intensive care unit setting, can detect ictal discharges not readily apparent on scalp EEG, and can identify early changes in brain activity caused by secondary neurological complications. We predict that ICE will facilitate the development of EEG-based alarm systems and lead to prevention of secondary neuronal injury. Ann Neurol 2009;66:366,377 [source] Transcutaneous bilirubinometry in very low birthweight infantsACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 7 2004L Karolyi Aim: To evaluate whether transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) would be a reliable and efficient screening technique for hyperbilirubinaemia in very low birthweight (VLBW, ±1500 g) infants in an intensive care unit setting. Methods: TcB measurements (Minolta Airshield Jaundice Meter JM-102, Osaka, Japan) were obtained immediately before or within 10min following routine blood sampling for plasma bilirubin concentration measurements in 124 VLBW infants not receiving phototherapy. The relationship between the two techniques was analysed by linear regression analysis. A plasma bilirubin ±150 ,mol/1 was defined as hyperbilirubinaemia. The sensitivity and specificity of possible TcB cut-off readings to detect hyperbilirubinaemia was evaluated. Results: There was a significant correlation between the measurements of both techniques (p < 0.0001, r= 0.68). In the present study, a TcB cut-off reading of 14 would have reduced the need for plasma bilirubin measurements by 26% without missing true hyperbilirubinaemia. Conclusion: The data suggest that TcB will improve VLBW infant care in an intensive care unit setting by reducing the need for invasive bilirubin concentration measurements. [source] | ||||||||||