Critical Care Alert – September 1, 2017
September 1, 2017
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Thrombocytopenia in the Critically Ill
Thrombocytopenia is not only a pathologic entity, but the severity of thrombocytopenia and the recovery time of the platelets often predicts outcome, including overall mortality of ICU patients. Critically ill patients with moderate and severe thrombocytopenia demonstrate higher ICU and hospital mortality. If the recovery is delayed beyond day four, several studies have demonstrated higher morbidity and mortality.
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Functional Outcomes After Receiving Life-sustaining Therapy in the ICU
Among patients who have spent at least three days in an ICU and required even brief mechanical ventilation and/or vasopressor support, almost half are dead and only one-third return to their baseline at six months. Several factors present on the first day of admission are associated with not returning to baseline status.
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Failure to Wean From the Ventilator: Is Pleural Effusion the Culprit?
The authors of a multicenter, prospective cohort study did not find an association between the presence of moderate or large pleural effusion and ventilator weaning failure.