Assessment of Prophylactic Carbapenem Antibiotics Administration for Severe Acute Pancreatitis: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) remains a debatable issue. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the efficacy of prophylactic carbapenem antibiotics in SAP. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This meta-analysis of prophylactic carbapenem antibiotics for SAP was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library up to February 2021. The related bibliographies were manually searched. The primary outcomes involved infected pancreatic or peripancreatic necrosis, mortality, complications, infections, and organ failure. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Seven articles comprised 5 randomized controlled trials and 2 retrospective observational studies, including 3,864 SAP participants. Prophylactic carbapenem antibiotics in SAP were associated with a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of infections (odds ratio [OR]: 0.27; <i>p</i> = 0.03) and complications (OR: 0.48; <i>p</i> = 0.009). Nevertheless, no statistically significant difference was demonstrated in the incidence of infected pancreatic or peripancreatic necrosis (OR: 0.74; <i>p</i> = 0.24), mortality (OR: 0.69; <i>p</i> = 0.17), extrapancreatic infection (OR: 0.64, <i>p</i> = 0.54), pulmonary infection (OR: 1.23; <i>p</i> = 0.69), blood infection (OR: 0.60; <i>p</i> = 0.35), urinary tract infection (OR: 0.97; <i>p</i> = 0.97), pancreatic pseudocyst (OR: 0.59; <i>p</i> = 0.28), fluid collection (OR: 0.91; <i>p</i> = 0.76), organ failure (OR: 0.63; <i>p</i> = 0.19), acute respiratory distress syndrome (OR: 0.80; <i>p</i> = 0.61), surgical intervention (OR: 0.97; <i>p</i> = 0.93), dialysis (OR: 2.34; <i>p</i> = 0.57), use of respirator or ventilator (OR: 1.90; <i>p</i> = 0.40), intensive care unit treatment (OR: 2.97; <i>p</i> = 0.18), and additional antibiotics (OR: 0.59; <i>p</i> = 0.28) between the experimental and control groups. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> It is not recommended to administer routine prophylactic carbapenem antibiotics in SAP.

Pathophysiology of Hemorrhage as It Relates to the Warfighter

Saving lives of wounded military Warfighters often depends on the ability to resolve or mitigate the pathophysiology of hemorrhage, specifically diminished oxygen delivery to vital organs that leads to multi-organ failure and death. However, caring for hemorrhaging patients on the battlefield presents unique challenges that extend beyond applying a tourniquet and giving a blood transfusion, especially when battlefield care must be provided for a prolonged period. This review will describe these challenges and potential strategies for treating hemorrhage on the battlefield in a prolonged casualty care situation.

Nomogram for Predicting Persistent Organ Failure with Acute Pancreatitis in Pregnancy

Background: Acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (APIP) with persistent organ failure (POF) poses a high risk of death for mother and fetus. This study sought to create a nomogram model for early prediction of POF with APIP patients.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on APIP patients with organ failure (OF) between January 2012 and March 2021 in a university hospital. 131 patients were collected. Their clinical courses and pregnancy outcomes were obtained. Risk factors for POF were identified by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Prediction models with POF were built and nomogram was plotted. The performance of the nomogram was evaluated by using a bootstrapped-concordance index and calibration plots.Results: Hypertriglyceridemia was the most common etiology in this group of APIP patients, which accounted for 50% of transient organ failure (TOF) and 72.3% of POF. All in-hospital maternal death was in the POF group (P<0.05), which also had a significantly higher perinatal mortality rate than the TOF group (P<0.05). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis determined that lactate dehydrogenase, triglycerides, serum creatinine, and procalcitonin were independent risk factors for predicting POF in APIP. A nomogram for POF was created by using the four indicators. The area under the curve was 0.875 (95% confidence interval 0.80–0.95). The nomogram had a bootstrapped-concordance index of 0.85 and was well-calibrated.Conclusions: Hypertriglyceridemia was the leading cause of organ failure-related APIP. Lactate dehydrogenase, triglycerides, serum creatinine, and procalcitonin were the independent risk factors of POF in APIP. Our nomogram model showed an effective prediction of POF with the four indicators in APIP patients.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of presepsin and procalcitonin in non-infectious organ failure, sepsis, and septic shock: a prospective observational study according to the Sepsis-3 definitions

Background We investigated the diagnostic and prognostic value of presepsin among patients with organ failure, including sepsis, in accordance with the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). Methods This prospective observational study included 420 patients divided into three groups: non-infectious organ failure (n = 142), sepsis (n = 141), and septic shock (n = 137). Optimal cut-off values of presepsin to discriminate between the three groups were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. We determined the optimal cut-off value of presepsin levels to predict mortality associated with sepsis and performed Kaplan–Meier survival curve analysis according to the cut-off value. Cox proportional hazards model was performed to determine the risk factors for 30-day mortality. Results Presepsin levels were significantly higher in sepsis than in non-infectious organ failure cases (p < 0.001) and significantly higher in patients with septic shock than in those with sepsis (p = 0.002). The optimal cut-off value of the presepsin level to discriminate between sepsis and non-infectious organ failure was 582 pg/mL (p < 0.001) and between sepsis and septic shock was 1285 pg/mL (p < 0.001). The optimal cut-off value of the presepsin level for predicting the 30-day mortality was 821 pg/mL (p = 0.005) for patients with sepsis. Patients with higher presepsin levels (≥ 821 pg/mL) had significantly higher mortality rates than those with lower presepsin levels (< 821 pg/mL) (log-rank test; p = 0.004). In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, presepsin could predict the 30-day mortality in sepsis cases (hazard ratio, 1.003; 95% confidence interval 1.001–1.005; p = 0.042). Conclusions Presepsin levels could effectively differentiate sepsis from non-infectious organ failure and could help clinicians identify patients with sepsis with poor prognosis. Presepsin was an independent risk factor for 30-day mortality among patients with sepsis and septic shock.

Hyaluronan-coated Prussian blue nanoparticles relieve LPS-induced peritonitis by suppressing oxidative species generation in tissue-resident macrophages

Excessive inflammatory response during sepsis causes irreversible damage to healthy tissues and results in multi-organ failure. During infection, bacterial endotoxin-triggered inflammatory responses in macrophages facilitate the recruitment of circulating leukocytes,...