Continuous intravenous administration of vancomycin in medical intensive care unit patients

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate continuous vancomycin infusion (contV) in intensive care unit patients.

Materials and Methods

A retrospective study in 164 patients treated with contV was conducted. They were compared with 75 patients treated with intermittent vancomycin infusion.

Results

The median duration of vancomycin therapy in the contV group was 6 (5%-95% percentile range, 2-21) days. The median daily vancomycin dose in the contV group was 960 (526-1723) mg, resulting in a median serum vancomycin plateau concentration of 19.8 (9.8-29.4) mg/L (target: 15-25 mg/L). The contV administration regime was sufficient regarding achievement of the target serum vancomycin concentration. However, in the contV group, serum vancomycin levels were frequently in a subtherapeutic range on treatment days 1 (44%), 2 (29%), and 3 (23%). In the contV group, serum vancomycin concentration determinations per treatment day were performed significantly less often compared with the intermittent vancomycin infusion group (0.38 [0.15-0.75] vs 0.43 [0.22-1.00], P = .041).

Conclusions

In medical intensive care unit patients, contV is sufficient to achieve target serum vancomycin concentrations. Because contV frequently resulted in subtherapeutic drug levels on the first days of therapy, a higher loading or starting dose might be necessary.     

Impaired gastrointestinal transit and its associated morbidity in the intensive care unit

Purpose

To determine the proportion of critically ill adults developing impaired gastrointestinal transit (IGT) using a clinically pragmatic definition, its associated morbidity and risk factors.

Materials and Methods

Critically ill adult patients receiving enteral nutrition for ≥ 72 hours and mechanically ventilated for ≥ 48 hours were prospectively identified. IGT was defined as absence of a bowel movement for ≥ 3 days, treatment for constipation, and one of the following: (1) radiologic confirmed ileus, (2) feed intolerance, (3) abdominal distention, or (4) gastric decompression.

Results

One thousand patients were screened, and 248 were included for analysis. Fifty patients (20.1%; 95% confidence interval, 15.1-25.6%) developed IGT persisting for 6.5 ± 2.5 days. Patients with IGT had longer lengths of intensive care unit stay and were less likely to reach nutrition targets compared to patients without IGT or traditional definitions of constipation. Daily opioid use and pharmacological constipation prophylaxis were identified risk factors for IGT.

Conclusion

Traditional definitions of constipation or ileus in intensive care unit patients are simplistic and lack clinical relevance. Pragmatically defined IGT is a common complication of critical illness and is associated with significant morbidity. Future interventional studies for IGT in critically ill adults should use a more clinically relevant definition and evaluate energy deficits and lengths of stay as clinically relevant outcomes.     

Facilitators and barriers to initiating change in medical intensive care unit survivors with alcohol use disorders: A qualitative study

Purpose

Alcohol abuse and dependence are collectively referred to as alcohol use disorders (AUD). An AUD is present in up to one third of patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). We sought to understand the barriers and facilitators to change in ICU survivors with an AUD to provide a foundation upon which to tailor alcohol-related interventions.

Methods

We used a qualitative approach with a broad constructivist framework, conducting semistructured interviews in medical ICU survivors with an AUD. Patients were included if they were admitted to 1 of 2 medical ICUs and were excluded if they refused participation, were unable to participate, or did not speak English. Digitally recorded and professionally transcribed interviews were analyzed using a general inductive approach and grouped into themes.

Results

Nineteen patients were included, with an average age of 51 (interquartile range, 36-51) years and an average Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score of 9 (interquartile range, 5-13); 68% were white, 74% were male, and the most common reason for admission was alcohol withdrawal (n = 8). We identified 5 facilitators of change: empathy of the inpatient health care environment, recognition of accumulating problems, religion, pressure from others to stop drinking, and trigger events. We identified 3 barriers to change: missed opportunities, psychiatric comorbidity, and cognitive dysfunction. Social networks were identified as either a barrier or facilitator to change depending on the specific context.

Conclusions

Alcohol-related interventions to motivate and sustain behavior change could be tailored to ICU survivors by accounting for unique barriers and facilitators.     

Significance of new-onset prolonged sinus tachycardia in a medical intensive care unit: a prospective observational study

Objective

Few data are available on sinus tachycardia among medical intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We investigated new critical illnesses related to new-onset prolonged sinus tachycardia (NOPST) and the relationship of NOPST with ICU mortality.

Methods

The heart rate (HR) of all enrolled patients was monitored hourly over a 12-month period, and NOPST was defined as sinus tachycardia (>100 beats/min) with an increase in HR of more than 20% from the baseline value lasting longer than 6 hours.

Results

Among the 522 patients enrolled, the average mean HR was 96.1 ± 18.4 beats/min. Fifty-two (10.0%) patients met the criteria for NOPST; pneumonia, delirium, septic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome, catheter-related infections, and mechanical ventilator–related problems were related to the occurrence of NOPST. The ICU mortality rate in patients with a NOPST duration of more than 72 hours was higher compared with other patients with NOPST (60.0% vs 18.5%; P = .002). A high daily mean HR rather than NOPST was a significant predictor of ICU mortality (odds ratio, 1.415; 95% confidence interval, 1.177-1.700).

Conclusions

Although NOPST was not associated with ICU mortality, it indicates the presence of new critical events in the medical ICU setting.     

Safety of physical therapy interventions in critically ill patients: A single-center prospective evaluation of 1110 intensive care unit admissions

Purpose

Critical illness survivors commonly have impaired physical functioning. Physical therapy interventions delivered in the intensive care unit can reduce these impairments, but the safety of such interventions within routine clinical practice requires greater investigation.

Materials and Methods

We conducted a prospective observational study of routine physical therapy from July 2009 through December 2011 in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical Intensive Care Unit in Baltimore, MD. The incidence of 12 types of physiological abnormalities and potential safety events associated with physical therapy were monitored and evaluated for any additional treatment, cost, or length of stay.

Results

Of 1787 admissions of at least 24 hours, 1110 (62%) participated in 5267 physical therapy sessions conducted by 10 different physical therapists on 4580 patient-days. A total of 34 (0.6%) sessions had a physiological abnormality or potential safety event, with the most common being arrhythmia (10 occurrences, 0.2%) and mean arterial pressure greater than 140 mm Hg (8 occurrences; 0.2%) and less than 55 mm Hg (5 occurrences; 0.1%). Only 4 occurrences (0.1%) required minimal additional treatment or cost, without additional length of stay.

Conclusions

In this large, single-center study, routine care physical therapy interventions were safe for critically ill patients.     

内科重症监护病房致病菌的菌群变迁及耐药性分析--附513株检测报告

目的:了解内科ICU致病菌的菌群变迁及其耐药情况.方法:对2001年1月～2004年12月从内科ICU送检标本检测出的致病菌及其耐药性资料进行回顾性研究分析.结果与结论:内科ICU的致病菌以革兰阴性杆菌为主,占54.2%;革兰阳性球菌占45.8%.占前5位的致病菌分别为铜绿假单胞菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌、鲍曼不动杆菌、嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌.检出标本的类型以痰和支气管吸出物为主,占83.2%(427/513),其余依次为血液、脓性分泌物、静脉插管尖端等.其中,2001～2003年均以金黄色葡萄球菌占首位,铜绿假单胞菌居其次,2004年则刚好相反.2001～2004年间的药物敏感试验显示,致病菌对多种抗菌药均有较高的耐药性,仅革兰阴性杆菌对头孢哌酮钠-舒巴坦的耐药率最低(小于17%),革兰阳性球菌时去甲万古霉素、替考拉宁未见耐药株.2001～2004年的连续观察显示,内科ICU致病菌的耐药率高.加强监测ICU的菌群及其耐药性,对提高抗感染治疗的效果、减少耐药菌株有重要作用.     

Research issues in the evaluation of cognitive impairment in intensive care unit survivors

Neuropsychological assessment has been utilized extensively in the research of cognitive outcomes associated with medical illnesses, such as HIV, and post-surgical procedures, such as coronary artery bypass graft. However, few investigations of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors have examined cognitive function as a clinical outcome. Significant clinical questions exist regarding the impact of critical illness on long-term cognitive function. Many of these questions can be systematically evaluated through the use of standardized neuropsychological assessment instruments within the context of well designed, prospective research trials. This review will provide information for clinical researchers interested in the study of neuropsychological outcomes in intensive care unit survivors ( a comparison article in this issue will address clinical issues related to cognitive functioning).Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at     

Inter-rater reliability of the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility Scale (JH-HLM) in the intensive care unit

BackgroundThe Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility (JH-HLM) scale is used to document the observed mobility of hospitalized patients, including those patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting.ObjectiveTo evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the JH-HLM, completed by physical therapists, across medical, surgical, and neurological adult ICUs at a single large academic hospital.MethodsThe JH-HLM is an ordinal scale for documenting a patient’s highest observed level of activity, ranging from lying in bed (score = 1) to ambulating >250 feet (score = 8). Eighty-one rehabilitation sessions were conducted by eight physical therapists, with 1 of 2 reference physical therapist rater simultaneously observing the session and independently scoring the JH-HLM. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to determine the inter-rater reliability.ResultsA total of 77 (95%) of 81 assessments had perfect agreement. The overall intraclass correlation coefficient for inter-rater reliability was 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.96, 0.99), with similar scores in the medical, surgical, and neurological ICUs. A Bland–Altman plot revealed a mean difference in JH-HLM scoring of 0 (limits of agreement: ?0.54 to 0.61).ConclusionThe JH-HLM has excellent inter-rater reliability as part of routine physical therapy practice, across different types of adult ICUs.     

监护病房中高血钠发生的危险因素及护理对策

目的 分析监护病房中高血钠发生的危险因素及护理对策。方法 用急性生理功能与慢性健康状况评分Ⅱ评分系统评估疾病严重程度，采用单因素x^2检验和多因素Logistic回归分析判定发生高血钠的危险因素。结果 监护病房中高血钠患者的发生率为16．55％，高血钠发生与患者不同程度的意识水平，尿量，高热，基础疾病较严重，经口饮水受限及使用脱水剂不当等因素显著相关。结论 高血钠是监护病房中常见并发症，应重视其危险因素，加强护理，减少发生率。     

How qualitative research can contribute to research in the intensive care unit

A qualitative research design can provide unique contributions to research in the intensive care unit. Qualitative research includes the entire process of research: the methodology (conceptualization of the research question, choosing the appropriate qualitative strategy, designing the protocol), methods (conducting the research using qualitative methods within the chosen qualitative strategy, analysis of the data, verification of the findings), and writing the narrative. The researcher is the instrument and the data are the participants' words and experiences that are collected and coded to present experiences, discover themes, or build theories. A number of strategies are available to conduct qualitative research and include grounded theory, phenomenology, case study, and ethnography. Qualitative methods can be used to understand complex phenomena that do not lend themselves to quantitative methods of formal hypothesis testing. Qualitative research may be used to gain insights about organizational and cultural issues within the intensive care unit and to improve our understanding of social interaction and processes of health care delivery. In this article, we outline the rationale for, and approaches to, using qualitative research to inform critical care issues. We provide an overview of qualitative methods available and how they can be used alone or in concert with quantitative methods. To illustrate how our understanding of social phenomena such as patient safety and behavior change has been enhanced we use recent qualitative studies in acute care medicine.     

冠状动脉完全闭塞无心肌梗死患者临床特点

目的探讨冠状动脉完全闭塞无心肌梗死患者的临床特点。方法选取冠状动脉造影显示冠状动脉完全闭塞而无心肌梗死发生的23例患者（无心肌梗死组）和冠状动脉造影显示冠状动脉完全闭塞有明显临床心肌梗死证据的27例患者（心肌梗死组），比较两组患者的临床特点。结果两组在高血压、年龄、性别等方面比较差异无显著性。无心肌梗死组在糖尿病、血脂异常、吸烟、心绞痛史等方面与心肌梗死组比较，差异均有显著性（均为P〈0．05）。无心肌梗死组冠状动脉病变血管支数较心肌梗死组多，侧支循环建立较好。但经皮冠状动脉介入治疗的成功率要低于心肌梗死组。结论冠状动脉造影显示有冠状动脉完全闭塞患者中，部分患者可无心肌梗死表现。除年龄、性别等不可控制因素外，糖尿病、血脂异常、吸烟等危险因素可能促进冠状动脉粥样硬化的发展。部分冠状动脉完全闭塞而无心肌梗死的患者常有较长的心绞痛史，冠状动脉病变弥散，侧支循环建立较好，所以在某支冠状动脉病变发展到完全闭塞时可不表现心肌梗死。     

The diagnosis of myocardial infarction in critically ill patients: An agreement study

Purpose

The aim of the study was to assess agreement among 4 intensivists in diagnosing myocardial infarction (MI) in critically ill patients based on screening electrocardiograms (ECGs) and cardiac troponin (cTn) levels.

Methods

Consecutive patients admitted to a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) underwent systematic screening with 12-lead ECGs and cTn measurements throughout their ICU stay. Independently, 4 raters interpreted the ECGs assessing for changes indicative of ischemia and then classified each patient as to whether they met diagnostic criteria for MI based on the screening cTn measurements and ECG results. A priori, 2 raters were designated the primary adjudicators, and their consensus was used as the reference for the agreement statistics. Agreement on MI diagnosis was calculated for the 4 raters and expressed as raw agreement, κ (chance-corrected agreement) and ? (chance-independent agreement, calculated using pairs).

Results

Among 103 enrolled patients, 37 (35.9%) had MI according to the primary adjudicators. The raw agreement for diagnosing MI was 79% (substantial), κ was 0.24 (fair), and ? ranged from 0.12 to 0.73 (slight to substantial).

Conclusions

Diagnosing MI in the ICU remains a challenge due to variable agreement in 12-lead ECG interpretation. Such variation in practice may contribute to underrecognition of MI during critical illness.     

Reasons underlying interhospital transfers to an academic medical intensive care unit

Purpose

Interhospital critical care transfers are common, yet few studies address the underlying reasons for transfers. We examined clinician and patient/surrogate perceptions about interhospital transfers and assessed their agreement on these transfers.

Materials and methods

This is a mixed-mode survey of 3 major stakeholders in interhospital transfers to an academic medical intensive care unit from August 2007 to April 2008.

Results

Sixty-two hospitals transferred 138 patients during the study period. Response rates varied among stakeholders (accepting physician, 90%; referring physicians, 20%; patients/surrogates, 33%). All 3 groups frequently endorsed quality of care and need for a specific test/procedure as important. Referring hospital reputation and quality were rarely endorsed. Accepting physicians and patients/surrogates substantially agreed on the need for a specific test (κ = 0.70) and increased survival (κ = 0.78) but, otherwise, had fair to poor agreement. Referring physicians and patients/surrogates rarely agreed and sometimes disagreed greater than expected by chance (κ < 0). Physician pairs strongly agreed on the importance of accepting hospital experience (κ = 0.96) but agreed less on patient satisfaction at the referring hospital (κ = 0.37) and referring hospital reputation (κ = 0.35).

Conclusions

Stakeholders do not always agree on the reasons for critical care transfers. Efforts to improve communication are warranted to ensure informed patient choices.     

Post-traumatic stress disorder-related symptoms in relatives of patients following intensive care

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of the provision of information in the form of a rehabilitation program following critical illness in reducing psychological distress in the patients close family.Design Randomised controlled trial, blind at follow-up with final assessment at 6 months.Setting Two district general hospitals and one teaching hospital.Patients and participants The closest family member of 104 recovering intensive care unit (ICU) patients.Interventions Ward visits, ICU clinic appointments at 2 and 6 months. Relatives and patients received the rehabilitation program at 1 week after ICU discharge. The program comprised a 6-week self-help manual containing information about recovery from ICU, psychological information and practical advice.Measurements and results Psychological recovery of relatives was assessed by examining the rate of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related symptoms by 6 months after ICU. The proportion of relatives scoring in the range >19 on the Impact of Events Scale (cause for concern) was high in both groups at 49% at 6 months. No difference was shown in the rate of depression, anxiety, or PTSD-related symptoms between the study groups.Conclusion A high incidence of psychological distress was evident in relatives. Written information concerning recovery from ICU provided to the patient and their close family did not reduce this. High levels of psychological distress in patients were found to be correlated with high levels in relatives.     

Predictive factors of intensive care unit admission in patients with haematological malignancies and pneumonia

Objective To describe early signs at the onset of pneumonia occurring in the haematology ward which could be associated with a transfer to the ICU.Design A 13-month preliminary prospective observational cohort study.Setting Department of haematology and (32-bed) medical intensive care unit (ICU).Patients Fifty-three of 302 patients hospitalised in the haematology ward who developed presumptive clinical evidence of pneumonia were enrolled.Measurements and results At the onset of the clinical evidence of pneumonia (day 1), we compared variables between patients requiring an ICU admission and those who did not. Twenty-four patients (45%) required a transfer to the ICU. Factors associated with ICU admission were: numbers of involved quadrants: 2.3 vs 1, P=0.001 and oxygenation parameters (initial level of O₂ supplementation: 3.5 vs 0.9 l/min, P<0.05), the presence of hepatic failure (58% vs 10%, P<0.01), Gram-negative bacilli isolated in blood culture (7 vs 1, P=0.01). In the multivariate analysis, a decrease of 10% in the SaO₂ and the requirement of nasal supplementary O₂ at the onset of acute respiratory failure increased the risk of admission to MICU, respectively, by 18 and by 14. The overall 6-month mortality rate of the 53 patients was 28%.Conclusion Parameters of oxygenation and radiological score could be associated with this transfer on day 1 of the onset of pneumonia occurrence. A further study should evaluate an earlier selection of this type of patient, followed by an early admission to the MICU, in order to improve ICU outcome.     

Organizational and safety culture in Canadian intensive care units: relationship to size of intensive care unit and physician management model

Purpose

The objectives of this study are to describe organizational and safety culture in Canadian intensive care units (ICUs), to correlate culture with the number of beds and physician management model in each ICU, and to correlate organizational culture and safety culture.

Materials and Methods

In this cross-sectional study, surveys of organizational and safety culture were administered to 2374 clinical staff in 23 Canadian tertiary care and community ICUs. For the 1285 completed surveys, scores were calculated for each of 34 domains. Average domain scores for each ICU were correlated with number of ICU beds and with intensivist vs nonintensivist management model. Domain scores for organizational culture were correlated with domain scores for safety culture.

Results

Culture domain scores were generally favorable in all ICUs. There were moderately strong positive correlations between number of ICU beds and perceived effectiveness at recruiting/retaining physicians (r = 0.58; P < .01), relative technical quality of care (r = 0.66; P < .01), and medical director budgeting authority (r = 0.46; P = .03), and moderately strong negative correlations with frequency of events reported (r = −0.46; P = .03), and teamwork across hospital units (r = −0.51; P = .01). There were similar patterns for relationships with intensivist management. For most pairs of domains, there were weak correlations between organizational and safety culture.

Conclusion

Differences in perceptions between staff in larger and smaller ICUs highlight the importance of teamwork across units in larger ICUs.