Adverse Events of Peripherally Administered Norepinephrine During Surgery: A Prospective Multicenter Study.

BACKGROUND: Perioperative treatment of hypotension by intravenous administration of norepinephrine in a peripheral vein can lead to adverse events, for example, tissue necrosis. However, the incidence and severity of adverse events during perioperative administration are unknown. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study conducted at 3 Swedish hospitals from 2019 to 2022. A total of 1004 patients undergoing surgery, who met the criteria for perioperative peripheral norepinephrine administration, were included. The infusion site was inspected regularly. If swelling or paleness of skin was detected, the infusion site was changed to a different peripheral line. Systolic blood pressure and pulse frequency were monitored during the infusion time and defined as adverse events at >220 mm Hg and <40 beats•min -1 . In case of adverse events, patients were observed for up to 48 hours. The primary outcome was prevalence of extravasation, defined as swelling around the infusion site. Secondary outcomes were all types of adverse events and associations between predefined clinical variables and risk of adverse events. RESULTS: We observed 2.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4%-3.2%) extravasation of infusion and 0.9% (95% CI, 0.4%-1.7%) bradycardia. No cases of tissue necrosis or severe hypertension were detected. All adverse events had dissipated spontaneously within 48 hours. Proximal catheter placement was associated with more adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Extravasation of peripherally administrated norepinephrine in the perioperative period occurred at similar rates as in previous studies in critically ill patients. In our setting, where we regularly inspected the infusion site and shifted site in case of swelling or paleness of skin, we observed no case of severe adverse events. Given that severe adverse events were absent, the potential benefit of this preventive approach requires confirmation in a larger population.

Postinjury Sepsis-Associations With Risk Factors, Impact on Clinical Course, and Mortality: A Retrospective Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES: Overall outcomes for trauma patients have improved over time. However, mortality for postinjury sepsis has been reported to be unchanged. Estimate incidence of and risk factors for sepsis in ICU patients after major trauma and the association between sepsis, mortality, and clinical course. DESIGN SETTING AND PATIENTS: ICU in a large urban trauma center in Sweden with a well-developed trauma system. Retrospective cohort study of trauma patients admitted to the ICU for more than 24 hours were included. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were 1-year mortality and impact on clinical course. In total, 722 patients with a median Injury Severity Score of 26 (interquartile range, 18-38) were included. Incidence of sepsis was 22%. Septic patients had a four-fold increase in length of stay and need for organ supportive therapy. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 9.3%. After exclusion of early trauma-related deaths in the first 48 hours, the 30-day mortality rate was 6.7%. There was an association between sepsis and this adjusted 30-day mortality (day 3 odds ratio, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.1-3.9]; day 4 odds ratio, 3.1 [95% CI, 1.5-6.1]; day 5 odds ratio, 3.0 [95% CI, 1.4-6.2]). Septic patients had a 1-year mortality of 17.7% (nonseptic 11.0%). Development of sepsis was independently associated with age, spine and chest injury, shock, red cell transfusion, and positive blood alcohol concentration at admission. The risk of sepsis increased, in a dose-dependent manner, with the number of transfusions. CONCLUSIONS: Postinjury sepsis was associated with a complicated clinical course and with mortality after exclusion of early, trauma-related deaths.

Temporal patterns of organ dysfunction after severe trauma.

BACKGROUND: Understanding temporal patterns of organ dysfunction (OD) may aid early recognition of complications after trauma and assist timing and modality of treatment strategies. Our aim was to analyse and characterise temporal patterns of OD in intensive care unit-admitted trauma patients. METHODS: We used group-based trajectory modelling to identify temporal trajectories of OD after trauma. Modelling was based on the joint development of all six subdomains comprising the sequential organ failure assessment score measured daily during the first two weeks post trauma. Further, the time for trajectories to stabilise and transition to final group assignments were evaluated. RESULTS: Six-hundred and sixty patients were included in the final model. Median age was 40 years, and median ISS was 26 (IQR 17-38). We identified five distinct trajectories of OD. Group 1, mild OD (n = 300), median ISS of 20 (IQR 14-27), had an early resolution of OD and a low mortality. Group 2, moderate OD (n = 135), and group 3, severe OD (n = 87), were fairly similar in admission characteristics and initial OD but differed in subsequent OD trajectories, the latter experiencing an extended course and higher mortality. In group 3, 56% of the patients developed sepsis as compared with 19% in group 2. Group 4, extreme OD (n = 40), received most blood transfusions, had the highest proportion of shock at admission and a median ISS of 41 (IQR 29-50). They experienced significant and sustained OD affecting all organ systems and a 28-day mortality of 30%. Group 5, traumatic brain injury with OD (n = 98), had the highest mortality of 35% and the shortest time to death for non-survivors, median 3.5 (IQR 2.4-4.8) days. Groups 1 and 5 reached their final group assignment early, > 80% of the patients within 48 h. In contrast, groups 2 and 3 had a prolonged time to final group assignment. CONCLUSIONS: We identified five distinct trajectories of OD after severe trauma during the first two weeks post-trauma. Our findings underline the heterogeneous course after trauma and describe some potentially important clinical insights that are suggested by the groupings and temporal trajectories.

Comparison of the sepsis-2 and sepsis-3 definitions in severely injured trauma patients.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the performance of the new SOFA-based sepsis definition in trauma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-centre, retrospective, observational study. Primary outcome was 30-day mortality including a censoring analysis for early deaths. The primary outcome was evaluated with logistic regression, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves and Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. RESULTS: 722 severely injured patients were included between 2007 and 2016. 315 patients fulfilled the sepsis-2 criteria and 148 fulfilled the sepsis-3 criteria during the first ten days in the ICU. The odds ratios for 30-day mortality were 0.7 (CI 0.4-1.2) for sepsis-2 and 1.5 (CI 0.8-2.6) for sepsis-3. When censoring patients dying at day 1, sepsis-3 became associated with 30-day mortality whereas sepsis-2 did not. This finding was persistent and enhanced through continuing day-by-day censoring of early deaths. The same pattern was seen for the ROC curves analyses, censoring of early deaths resulted in significant discriminatory properties for sepsis-3 but not for sepsis-2. CONCLUSIONS: The sepsis-3 definition identifies much fewer patients and is more strongly associated with adverse outcomes than the sepsis-2 definition. The sepsis-3 definition seems to be useful in the post trauma setting.

Early prediction of new-onset physical disability after intensive care unit stay: a preliminary instrument.

INTRODUCTION: Many intensive care unit (ICU) survivors suffer from physical disability for months after ICU stay. There is no structured method to identify patients at risk for such problems. The purpose of the study was to develop a method for early in-ICU prediction of the patient's individual risk for new-onset physical disability two months after ICU stay. METHODS: In total, 23 potential predictors for physical disability were assessed before individual ICU discharge. Two months after ICU discharge, out of 232 eligible patients, 148 ICU survivors (64%) completed the activity of daily living (ADL) staircase questionnaire to determine new-onset physical disability. RESULTS: A total of 95% percent of patients had no ADL reduction prior to ICU admission. 47% (n = 69) of questionnaire responders suffered from worsened ADL. We identified four independent predictors for new-onset physical disability: Low educational level (odds ratio (OR) =6.8), impaired core stability (OR = 4.6), fractures (OR = 4.5) and ICU length of stay longer than 2 days (OR = 2.6). The predictors were included in a screening instrument. The regression coefficient of each predictor was transformed into a risk score. The sum of risk scores was related to a predicted probability for physical disability in the individual patient. The cross-validated area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) for the screening instrument was 0.80. CONCLUSIONS: Educational level is the single most important predictor for new-onset physical disability 2 months after ICU stay, followed by impaired core stability at ICU discharge, the presence of fractures and ICU stay longer than 2 days. A simple screening instrument based on these predictors can be used at ICU discharge to determine the risk for new-onset physical disability. This preliminary instrument may help clinicians to identify patients in need of support, but needs external validation prior to wider clinical use.

Developing an early screening instrument for predicting psychological morbidity after critical illness.

INTRODUCTION: Guidelines recommend follow-up for patients after an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Methods for identifying patients with psychological problems after intensive care would be of value, to optimize treatment and to improve adequate resource allocation in ICU follow-up of ICU survivors. The aim of the study was to develop a predictive screening instrument, for use at ICU discharge, to identify patients at risk for post-traumatic stress, anxiety or depression. METHODS: Twenty-one potential risk factors for psychological problems - patient characteristics and ICU-related variables - were prospectively collected at ICU discharge. Two months after ICU discharge 252 ICU survivors received the questionnaires Post-Traumatic Stress Symptom scale -10 (PTSS-10) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to estimate the degree of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression. RESULTS: Of the 150 responders, 46 patients (31%) had adverse psychological outcome, defined as PTSS-10 >35 and/or HADS subscales ≥8. After analysis, six predictors were included in the screening instrument: major pre-existing disease, being a parent to children younger than 18 years of age, previous psychological problems, in-ICU agitation, being unemployed or on sick-leave at ICU admission and appearing depressed in the ICU. The total risk score was related to the probability for adverse psychological outcome in the individual patient. The predictive accuracy of the screening instrument, as assessed with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, was 0.77. When categorizing patients in three risk probability groups - low (0 to 29%), moderate (30 to 59%) high risk (60 to 100%), the actual prevalence of adverse psychological outcome in respective groups was 12%, 50% and 63%. CONCLUSION: The screening instrument developed in this study may aid ICU clinicians in identifying patients at risk for adverse psychological outcome two months after critical illness. Prior to wider clinical use, external validation is needed.

Gender differences in psychological morbidity and treatment in intensive care survivors--a cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Many hospitals have initiated follow-up to facilitate rehabilitation after critical illness and intensive care, although the efficacy of such an intervention is uncertain. Studies in trauma research indicate significant differences in psychological reactions to traumatic events between men and women. Our aim, in a quasi-experimental design, was to compare psychological morbidity and treatment effects between men and women enrolled in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit (ICU) follow-up programme (follow-up group) and ICU patients not offered such follow-up (control group). METHODS: Men and women treated more than four days in the ICU in 2006, before ICU follow-up started, were compared with men and women treated in 2007 and 2008, when all patients with an ICU stay of more than four days were offered ICU follow-up at 3, 6 and 12 months post-ICU. Fourteen months after ICU discharge, psychological problems were measured with Impact of Event Scale (IES) for posttraumatic stress and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for anxiety and depression. RESULTS: Women with no follow-up reported significantly higher IES scores than men. Women in the follow-up group reported significantly lower IES scores compared to women in the control group, both in crude analysis and after adjusting for significant confounders/predictors (age, ICU length of stay and previous psychological problems). Furthermore, the 75th percentile for IES and HADS-Depression scores (high scores and degree of symptoms of psychological problems) in women in the follow-up group was lower than in those without follow-up (IES: -17.4 p, P <.01, HADS-depression: -4.9 p, P <.05). For men, no significant differences were found between the no follow-up and the follow-up group. CONCLUSION: Psychological problems after critical illness and intensive care appear to be more common in women than in men. A multidisciplinary ICU follow-up may reduce the incidence of long-term symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression for women.

Screening and treatment of problems after intensive care: a descriptive study of multidisciplinary follow-up.

OBJECTIVES: To describe a multidisciplinary intensive care follow-up and the methods used for identifying and managing physical and psychological problems in ICU survivors. METHODS: Patients treated>four days in an intensive care unit (ICU) were invited three, six and 12 months after intensive care for screening of physical problems with function tests and psychological problems with the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: 40 of 61 patients had clinically impaired physical function, with no ongoing physical rehabilitation at three months. Twenty-two patients received specific training instructions and 18 patients were referred for physiotherapy. 34 of 61 patients had symptoms of moderate to severe posttraumatic stress and/or symptoms of clinically significant anxiety or depression. Twelve patients accepted referral for psychiatric evaluation and treatment. CONCLUSION: Multidisciplinary follow-up after intensive care can be of value in identifying untreated physical and psychological problems in ICU survivors. Liaison with specialists enables referral for identified problems. Patients screened and treated in the first six months appear to have little need for further follow-up after intensive care.