Intra-abdominal hypertension in medical critically ill patients: a narrative review.

Intra-abdominal hypertension/abdominal compartment syndrome (IAH/ACS) is a well-recognized entity among surgical subspecialties. Nevertheless, it has been proven to be present in the medical critically ill population. Prospective and retrospective observational studies have found medical patients with IAH/ACS to be associated with death in the intensive care unit and other poor outcomes. Frequently, it is underdiagnosed and undertreated in this patient group. Limitations encountered in these observational studies are their small population size and single-center design. In addition, most studies target consecutive intensive care unit admissions instead of limiting IAH/ACS screening to a predefined population confined by their risk factors (unspecified ascites, mechanical ventilation, positive fluid balance, etc.). Generally, medical patients with IAH/ACS are more severely ill compared with surgical patients. Furthermore, they are less likely to receive treatment targeted at lowering intra-abdominal pressure. Medical treatment of IAH/ACS has not been demonstrated to be specifically effective to avoid decompressive surgery. Identifying medical patients at risk of IAH represents an underresearched area for which training in measurement of abdominal pressure surrogates, awareness of its prevalence, and prevention and treatment of such condition could further improve outcomes in critically ill medical patients.

Mandated self-reporting of ventilator-associated pneumonia bundle and catheter-related bloodstream infection bundle compliance and infection rates.

IMPORTANCE: As quality measures increasingly become tied to payment, evaluating the most effective ways to provide high-quality care becomes more important. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether mandated reporting for ventilator and catheter bundle compliance is correlated with decreased infection rates, and to determine whether labor-intensive audits are correlated with compliance. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Multiyear retrospective review of aggregated data from all patients admitted to 15 intensive care units in a Veterans Affairs hospital setting (the Veterans Integrated Service Network 16) from 2009 to 2011. EXPOSURES: Ventilator-associated pneumonia and catheter-related bloodstream infections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Mean rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia and catheter-related bloodstream infection were analyzed by year. Relationships between infection rates, self-reported compliance, and audits were analyzed by Pearson correlation. RESULTS: During the study period, ventilator-associated pneumonia decreased from 2.50 to 1.60 infections per 1000 ventilator days (P = .07). The rate of pneumonia was not correlated with self-reported compliance overall (R = 0.19) or by individual year (2009, R = 0.30; 2010, R = 0.24; 2011, R = 0.46); there was a correlation in cardiac intensive care units (R = -0.70) but not other types of intensive care units (mixed, R = -0.18; medical, R = 0.42; surgical, R = 0.34). Catheter-related bloodstream infections decreased from 2.38 to 0.73 infections per 1000 catheter days (P = .04). The rate of catheter infection was not correlated with self-reported compliance overall (R = -0.18), by individual year (2009, R = -0.39; 2010, R = -0.42; 2011, R = 0.37), or by intensive care unit type (mixed, R = -0.19; cardiac, R = 0.55; medical, R = 0.17; surgical, R = -0.44). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Current mandated self-reported compliance and audit measures are poorly correlated with decreased ventilator-associated pneumonia or catheter-related bloodstream infection.

Endobronchial ultrasonography-guided transbronchial needle aspiration biopsy for preoperative nodal staging of lung cancer in a veteran population.

IMPORTANCE: Recently, preoperative lung cancer staging has evolved to include endobronchial ultrasonography-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) biopsies of the hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes, but the feasibility and usefulness of the procedure have not been well studied in the veteran population. OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and effectiveness of EBUS-TBNA as a key component of a preoperative staging algorithm for lung cancer in veterans. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Review of a prospectively maintained thoracic surgery database that includes patients who underwent lung resection for lung cancer between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012, at a single Veterans Affairs medical center among a consecutive cohort of 166 patients with clinically early-stage (I or II) lung cancer who underwent lobectomy with nodal dissection. INTERVENTIONS: Endobronchial ultrasonography-guided transbronchial needle aspiration mediastinal staging (EBUS group) in 62 patients (37.3%) was compared with noninvasive nodal staging plus integrated positron emission tomography-computed tomography only (PET/CT-only group) in 104 patients (62.7%). The accuracy of nodal staging was assessed by comparison with the final pathological staging after complete nodal dissection (the gold standard). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary outcomes were feasibility, safety, accuracy, and negative predictive value of EBUS-TBNA for preoperative nodal staging. A secondary outcome was the rate of nontherapeutic lung resection for occult N2 disease, with comparison between the EBUS group and the PET/CT-only group. RESULTS: No significant complications were attributable to the EBUS-TBNA procedure. In the EBUS group, 258 lymph node stations were sampled. N1 hilar metastases were diagnosed in 8 patients (12.9%) before surgery, and the remainder were staged N0. Accuracy and negative predictive value of EBUS-TBNA were 93.5% (58 of 62) and 92.6% (50 of 54), respectively. The overall rate of nontherapeutic lung resection performed in patients with occult N2 disease was 10.8% (18 of 166) (8.1% in the EBUS group and 12.5% in the PET/CT-only group) (P = .37). CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: A preoperative lung cancer staging strategy that includes EBUS-TBNA seems to be safe and effective in a veteran population, resulting in a low rate of nontherapeutic operations because of occult N2 nodal disease.