Anticoagulation strategies in venovenous hemodialysis in critically ill patients: a five-year evaluation in a surgical intensive care unit.

Renal failure is a common complication among critically ill patients. Timing, dosage, and mode of renal replacement (RRT) are under debate, but also anticoagulation strategies and vascular access interfere with dialysis success. We present a retrospective, five-year evaluation of patients requiring RRT on a multidisciplinary 50-bed surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital with special regard to anticoagulation strategies and vascular access. Anticoagulation was preferably performed with unfractionated heparin or regional citrate application (RAC). Bleeding and suspected HIT-II were most common causes for RAC. In CVVHD mode filter life span was significantly longer under RAC compared to heparin or other anticoagulation strategies (P=0.001). Femoral vascular access was associated with reduced filter life span (P=0.012), especially under heparin anticoagulation (P=0.015). Patients on RAC had higher rates of metabolic alkalosis (P=0.001), required more transfusions (P=0.045), and showed higher illness severity measured by SOFA scores (P=0.001). RRT with unfractionated heparin represented the most common anticoagulation strategy in this study population. However, patients with bleeding risk and severe organ dysfunction were more likely placed on RAC. Citrate provided longer filter life spans regardless of vascular access site. Attention has to be paid to metabolic disturbances.

Effects of low-dose acetylsalicylic acid and atherosclerotic vascular diseases on the outcome in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Sepsis and its sequelae of multiple organ failure is one of the leading causes of death in the industrial countries. Several studies have shown that patients who are treated with low-dose acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) for secondary prevention of atherothrombosis may have a lower risk to develop organ failure in the case of critical illness. The benefit of ASA is probably due to an inhibition of platelet activation as well as an increase in the formation of anti-inflammatory lipoxin A4. On the other hand, the effect of ASA could be - at least partially - an indirect one, caused by atherosclerotic vascular diseases as the cause of ASA treatment. Atherosclerosis is considered as a moderate systemic inflammation and we hypothesise that this chronic condition could have an impact on the outcome in sepsis. To get more information on the benefit of ASA in critically ill patients and on possible interference with atherosclerotic vascular diseases, we analysed the medical records of 886 septic patients who were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital. Logistic regression analysis indicated that patients who were treated during the ICU stay with ASA (100 mg/d) had a significantly lower mortality. Odds ratios (ORs; with 95% confidential intervals) of 0.56 (0.37-0.84) and 0.57 (0.39-0.83) were calculated for ICU and hospital mortality, respectively. In contrast, statin treatment did not have significant effect on mortality. Diagnosis of atherosclerotic vascular diseases according to ICD classification did not influence ICU mortality but lowered hospital mortality (OR = 0.71 (0.52-0.99)). Subgroup analysis provided preliminary evidence that clopidogrel when given as only anti-platelet drug may have a similar benefit as ASA, but the combination of ASA and clopidogrel failed to improve the outcome. The time course of plasma fibrinogen and procalcitonin levels indicate that ASA seems to reduce the activation of haemostasis and increase the resolution of inflammation. It is concluded that prospective interventional studies should be done to test the use of ASA as novel therapeutic approach in critically ill patients.

Effects of fluid resuscitation with synthetic colloids or crystalloids alone on shock reversal, fluid balance, and patient outcomes in patients with severe sepsis: a prospective sequential analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess shock reversal and required fluid volumes in patients with septic shock. DESIGN: Prospective before and after study comparing three different treatment periods. SETTING: Fifty-bed single-center surgical intensive care unit. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients with severe sepsis. INTERVENTIONS: Fluid therapy directed at preset hemodynamic goals with hydroxyethyl starch (predominantly 6% hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4) in the first period, 4% gelatin in the second period, and only crystalloids in the third period. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Main outcome was time to shock reversal (serum lactate <2.2 mmol/L and discontinuation of vasopressor use). Hemodynamic goals were mean arterial pressure >70 mm Hg; ScvO2 <70%; central venous pressure >8 mm Hg. Safety outcomes were acute kidney injury defined by Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, and End-stage kidney disease criteria and new need for renal replacement therapy. Hemodynamic measures, serum lactate, and creatinine were comparable at baseline in all study periods (hydroxyethyl starch n = 360, gelatin n = 352, only crystalloids n = 334). Severity scores, hospital length of stay, and intensive care unit or hospital mortality did not differ significantly among groups. All groups showed similar time to shock reversal. More fluid was needed over the first 4 days in the crystalloid group (fluid ratios 1.4:1 [crystalloids to hydroxyethyl starch] and 1.1:1 [crystalloids to gelatin]). After day 5, fluid balance was more negative in the crystalloid group. Hydroxyethyl starch and gelatin were independent risk factors for acute kidney injury (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval 2.55, 1.76-3.69 and 1.85, 1.31-2.62, respectively). Patients receiving synthetic colloids received significantly more allogeneic blood products. CONCLUSIONS: Shock reversal was achieved equally fast with synthetic colloids or crystalloids. Use of colloids resulted in only marginally lower required volumes of resuscitation fluid. Both low molecular weight hydroxyethyl starch and gelatin may impair renal function.

An Early Warning Scoring System to Identify Septic Patients in the Prehospital Setting: The PRESEP Score.

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to develop and evaluate an early sepsis detection score for the prehospital setting. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients who were admitted by emergency medical services (EMS) to the emergency department of the Jena University Hospital was performed. Because potential predictors for sepsis should be based on consensus criteria, the following parameters were extracted from the EMS protocol for further analysis: temperature, heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), oxygen saturation (SaO2 ), Glasgow Coma Scale score, blood glucose, and systolic blood pressure (sBP). Potential predictors were stratified based on inspection of Loess graphs. Backward model selection was performed to select risk factors for the final model. The Prehospital Early Sepsis Detection (PRESEP) score was calculated as the sum of simplified regression weights. Its predictive validity was compared to the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS), the Robson screening tool, and the BAS 90-30-90. RESULTS: A total of 375 patients were included in the derivation sample; 93 (24.8%) of these had sepsis, including 60 patients with severe sepsis and 12 patients with septic shock. Backward model selection identified temperature, HR, RR, SaO2 , and sBP for inclusion in the PRESEP score. Simplified weights were as follows: temperature > 38°C = 4, temperature < 36°C = 1, HR > 90 beats/min = 2, RR > 22 breaths/min = 1, SaO2 < 92% = 2, and sBP < 90 mm Hg = 2. The cutoff value for a possible existing septic disease based on maximum Youden's index was ≥4 (sensitivity 0.85, specificity 0.86, positive predictive value [PPV] 0.66, and negative predictive value [NPV] 0.95). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the PRESEP score was 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.89 to 0.96) and was larger than the AUC of the MEWS (0.93 vs. 0.77, p < 0.001). The PRESEP score surpassed MEWS and BAS 90-60-90 for sensitivity (0.74 and 0.62, respectively), specificity (0.75 and 0.83), PPV (0.45 and 0.51), and NPV (0.91 and 0.89). The Robson screening tool had a higher sensitivity and NPV (0.95 and 0.97), but its specificity and PPV were lower (0.43 and 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: The PRESEP score could be a valuable tool for identifying septic patients in the prehospital setting in the case of suspected infection. It should be prospectively validated.

Potential effect of physiotherapeutic treatment on mortality rate in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock: a retrospective cohort analysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to examine the onset and frequency of physiotherapeutic interventions (PTI) and their potential effects on the intensive care unit (ICU) mortality rate in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective data analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: About 6.2% of all patients (n = 999, length of ICU stay 12 days, averaged SOFA score 14) developed sepsis within three years. Of these, 77% received at least once PTI. The relative number of PTI (RNPTI index, individually calculated by the number of PTI/length of stay) in patients with sepsis was 42%. The first physiotherapeutic treatment was five days after ICU admission. Cox regression multivariate analysis adjusted by disease severity scores, sedation state and other clinical variables found RNPTI index as significant risk factor for the ICU mortality rate (hazard ratio, 0.982; 95% confidence interval, 0.974-0.990; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Physiotherapists routinely assess and treat patients with sepsis. The frequency of PTI was associated with an improved outcome. Prospective studies are necessary to confirm the potential favorable impact.

Do aspirin and other antiplatelet drugs reduce the mortality in critically ill patients?

Platelet activation has been implicated in microvascular thrombosis and organ failure in critically ill patients. In the first part the present paper summarises important data on the role of platelets in systemic inflammation and sepsis as well as on the beneficial effects of antiplatelet drugs in animal models of sepsis. In the second part the data of retrospective and prospective observational clinical studies on the effect of aspirin and other antiplatelet drugs in critically ill patients are reviewed. All of these studies have shown that aspirin and other antiplatelet drugs may reduce organ failure and mortality in these patients, even in case of high bleeding risk. From the data reviewed here interventional prospective trials are needed to test whether aspirin and other antiplatelet drugs might offer a novel therapeutic option to prevent organ failure in critically ill patients.

Is the SAPS II score valid in surgical intensive care unit patients?

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: We investigated the performance of the simplified acute physiology score II (SAPS II) in a large cohort of surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients and tested the hypothesis that customization of the score would improve the uniformity of fit in subgroups of surgical ICU patients. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from all 12,938 patients admitted to a postoperative ICU between January 2004 and January 2009. Probabilities of hospital death were calculated for original and customized (C1-SAPS II and C2-SAPS II) scores. A priori subgroups were defined according to age, probability of death according to the SAPS II score, ICU length of stay (LOS), surgical procedures and type of admission. RESULTS: The median ICU LOS was 1 (1-3) day. ICU and hospital mortality rates were 5.8% and 10.3%, respectively. Discrimination of the SAPS II was moderate [area under receiver operating characteristic curve (aROC) = 0.76 (0.75-0.78)], but calibration was poor. This model markedly overestimated hospital mortality rates [standardized mortality rate: 0.35 (0.33-0.37)]. First-level customization (C1-SAPS II) did not improve discrimination in the whole cohort or the subgroups, but calibration improved in some subgroups. Second-level customization (C2-SAPS II) improved discrimination in the whole cohort [aROC = 0.82 (0.79-0.85)] and most of the subgroups (aROC range 0.65-86). Calibration in this model (C2-SAPS II) improved in the whole cohort and in subgroups except in patients with ICU LOS 4-14 days and those undergoing neuro- or gastrointestinal surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of surgical ICU patients, performance of the original SAPS II model was generally poor. Although second-level customization improved discrimination and calibration in the whole cohort and most of the subgroups, it failed to simultaneously improve calibration in the subgroups stratified according to the type of surgery, age or ICU LOS.

The obesity paradox in surgical intensive care unit patients.

PURPOSE: To investigate the possible impact of obesity, as assessed by body mass index (BMI), on outcome in surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients. METHODS: Prospectively collected data from all consecutive adult patients admitted to our ICU between January 2004 and January 2009 were analysed retrospectively. BMI was calculated using the formula: BMI = body weight/height(2) (kg/m(2)), and patients were grouped as underweight (<18.5 kg/m(2)), normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m(2)), obese (30-39.9 kg/m(2)) and very obese (≥40 kg/m(2)). RESULTS: Among the 12,938 patients who were admitted to our ICU during the study period, 9,935 (76.8%) had complete height and weight data and constituted the study group. The mean BMI was 27.1 ± 5.0 kg/m(2). Overall, 34.4% of the study population had normal BMI, 1.8% were underweight, 41.2% were overweight, 20.8% were obese and 1.8% were very obese. The ICU mortality rate was similar among BMI subgroups, but hospital mortality was higher in underweight patients than in patients with normal BMI (17.8% versus 11.1%, P = 0.006). On multivariate Cox regression analysis, being overweight [hazard ratio (HR) 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.74-0.99, P = 0.047] or obese (HR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.69-0.99, P = 0.047) was independently associated with lower 60-day in-hospital mortality, with normal BMI as the reference category. Risk of death increased in very obese patients, especially after neurosurgical procedures (HR = 0.3, 95% CI = 1.06-8.48, P = 0.039). CONCLUSION: In this cohort of surgical ICU patients, being overweight or obese was associated with decreased risk of 60-day in-hospital mortality.