Fast-Track Recovery

Author(s):  
Arturo G. Torres ◽  
Edward McGough

Fast-track cardiac care (FTCC) encompasses the entire spectrum of perioperative care for the cardiothoracic surgical patient. From the preoperative assessment to postoperative care, the main goal is to expedite recovery while minimizing the inherent risks associated with cardiac surgery. The practice of prolonged mechanical ventilation due to high-dose narcotic anesthesia has evolved to early protocolized extubation pathways facilitated by multimodal anesthesia. The goal of the postoperative care phase is focused on reducing or completely bypassing the intensive care unit and ultimately decreasing hospital length of stay. Yet, here is where FTCC seems unable to achieve its goals due to multifactorial barriers. An integral part of successful FTCC is constant reevaluation of the patient through each of the perioperative phases (pre-, intra-, and postoperatively).

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-269
Author(s):  
Callum Kaye

Delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting is a significant cause of morbidity, mortality and increases ICU, as well as hospital length of stay1,2. Furthermore, with so many of the risk factors being present in the critically ill patient in the ICU environment, it's not surprising that other studies have found that up to 80% of patients will be delirious at some point during admission3,4. We performed a small study in a Toronto Medical-Surgical ICU using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU)5 to determine the prevalence of delirium in this unit. We concurrently reviewed medical and nursing notes to identify documentation of symptoms and signs that could indicate possible delirium during routine clinical assessment of the patient.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rindi Uhlich ◽  
Parker Hu ◽  
Patrick L Bosarge

Nutritional optimization of the surgical patient remains a cornerstone of perioperative care. Significant effort and scrutiny are routinely directed to the field as it has the potential to improve outcomes, limit infectious complications, and decrease hospital length of stay and mortality. As such, previously identified cornerstones of care have been called into question. The timing, route, and intensity of nutritional supplementation remain the subject of controversy in an ever-evolving field. Previous methods of nutritional assessment, such as albumin and transthyretin, have proved unreliable, and their use is no longer recommended. In their place, new scoring systems are available to risk assess patients for malnutrition. We review the most pressing changes and assess the landscape of the field today. Key words: critical illness, enteral, glutamine, malnutrition, nutrition, outcomes, parenteral, protein


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rindi Uhlich ◽  
Parker Hu ◽  
Patrick L Bosarge

Nutritional optimization of the surgical patient remains a cornerstone of perioperative care. Significant effort and scrutiny are routinely directed to the field as it has the potential to improve outcomes, limit infectious complications, and decrease hospital length of stay and mortality. As such, previously identified cornerstones of care have been called into question. The timing, route, and intensity of nutritional supplementation remain the subject of controversy in an ever-evolving field. Previous methods of nutritional assessment, such as albumin and transthyretin, have proved unreliable, and their use is no longer recommended. In their place, new scoring systems are available to risk assess patients for malnutrition. We review the most pressing changes and assess the landscape of the field today. Key words: critical illness, enteral, glutamine, malnutrition, nutrition, outcomes, parenteral, protein


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannie D. Chan ◽  
Timothy H. Dellit ◽  
John B. Lynch

Objectives: We sought to evaluate clinical outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) patients following a hospital-wide initiative of prolonged piperacillin/tazobactam (PIP/TAZ) infusion. Methods: Retrospective observational study of patients >18 years old who was hospitalized in the ICU receiving PIP/TAZ for >72 hours during the preimplementation (June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011) and postimplementation (July 7, 2011 to June 30, 2014) periods. Results: There were 124 and 429 patients who met inclusion criteria with average age of 54.3 and 56.9 years, and average duration of PIP/TAZ therapy was 6.1 ± 2.8 days and 5.9 ± 3.4 days in the pre- and postimplementation period, respectively. Intensive care unit and hospital length of stay (LOS) following initiation of PIP/TAZ were 8.0 ± 8.4 days versus 6.4 ± 6.8 days and 26.3 ± 22.8 days versus 20.4 ± 16.1 days among patients in the pre- and postimplementation periods, respectively. Compared to patients who received intermittent PIP/TAZ infusion, the adjusted difference in ICU and hospital LOS was 0.6 ± 0.8 days (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.9 to 2.1 days) and 5.6 ± 2.1 days (95% CI: 1.4 - 9.7 days) shorter among patients who received prolonged PIP/TAZ infusion. At hospital discharge, 19 (15.3%) intermittent infusion and 74 (17.2%) prolonged infusion recipients had died. In comparison to intermittent infusion recipients, the adjusted odds ratio for mortality was 1.17 (95% CI: 0.65-2.1) with prolonged infusion. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated a reduction in hospital LOS with prolonged PIP/TAZ infusion among critically ill patients. Randomized trials are needed to further validate these findings.


Healthcare ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Duraid Younan ◽  
Sarah Delozier ◽  
Nathaniel McQuay ◽  
John Adamski ◽  
Aisha Violette ◽  
...  

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia is associated with significant morbidity. Although the association of gender with outcomes in trauma patients has been debated for years, recently, certain authors have demonstrated a difference. We sought to compare the outcomes of younger men and women to older men and women, among critically ill trauma patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Methods: We reviewed our trauma data base for trauma patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia admitted to our trauma intensive care unit between January 2016 and June 2018. Data collected included demographics, injury mechanism and severity (ISS), admission vital signs and laboratory data and outcome measures including hospital length of stay, ICU stay and survival. Patients were also divided into younger (<50) and older (≥50) to account for hormonal status. Linear regression and binary logistic regression models were performed to compare younger men to older men and younger women to older women, and to examine the association between gender and hospital length of stay (LOS), ICU stay (ICUS), and survival. Results: Forty-five trauma patients admitted to our trauma intensive care unit during the study period (January 2016 to August 2018) had ventilator-associated pneumonia. The average age was 58.9 ± 19.6 years with mean ISS of 18.2 ± 9.8. There were 32 (71.1%) men, 27 (60.0%) White, and 41 (91.1%) had blunt trauma. Mean ICU stay was 14.9 ± 11.4 days and mean total hospital length of stay (LOS) was 21.5 ± 14.6 days. Younger men with VAP had longer hospital LOS 28.6 ± 17.1 days compared to older men 16.7 ± 6.6 days, (p < 0.001) and longer intensive care unit stay 21.6 ± 15.6 days compared to older men 11.9 ± 7.3 days (p = 0.02), there was no significant difference in injury severity (ISS was 22.2 ± 8.4 vs. 17 ± 8, p = 0.09). Conclusions: Among trauma patients with VAP, younger men had longer hospital length of stay and a trend towards longer ICU stay. Further research should focus on the mechanisms behind this difference in outcome using a larger database.


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