[Family satisfaction in intensive care unit: a prospective survey]. / Enquête de satisfaction de familles de patients hospitalisés en réanimation.

BACKGROUND: To assess family satisfaction in the intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify parameters for improvement. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational monocentric study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty families were given a questionnaire of twenty-four items covering: satisfaction with reception and waiting areas, satisfaction with care and satisfaction with information/decision-making. Each item was evaluated by families according to three levels: high, intermediate, and poor satisfaction. Opinions concerning accessibility time, information notice and visitor limitations were also gathered. RESULTS: Several factors, such as waiting time, respect of family's wishes, visiting hours, lack of social support, and examination's results communication were associated with poor level of satisfaction. Twenty-three percent of families felt restricted by visitation policy for children and 17 % by visitor's number limitation. DISCUSSION: Quality of family reception in the ICU needs to be improved concerning waiting time, visiting hours, social and emotional support.

[Broken chest tube into the pleural cavity by a Monod' trocar]. / Section intrapleurale d'un drain thoracique par un trocart de Monod.

We report the case of a 56-year-old man who presented a section of a chest drain into the pleural cavity. Following an oesogastrectomy with coloplasty for oesophageal carcinoma, the patient developed a pleural effusion. During the implementation of pleural drainage, the intrathoracic drain tip was sectioned. The patient underwent a thoracotomy to remove the foreign body. The drain was probably cut during device removal through the particularly cutting trocar. This observation strengthens the need to refrain from withdrawing the movement tube through a Monod trocar.

Usefulness of pulse oximetry using the SET technology in critically ill adult patients.

BACKGROUND: Pulse oximeters are routinely used in severely ill patients to detect hypoxemia early. In various clinical situations, however, conventional devices may be unable to display valid values or any value whatsoever. The usefulness of the Signal Extraction Technology (SET) in these situations has not yet been investigated. METHOD: Twenty-five adult patients requiring norepinephrine, regardless of the reason or dosage, or having a defective signal with a conventional oximeter were equipped with both their conventional saturation sensor (Oxymax Nellcor) and a SET saturation sensor (Masimo) connected to its monitor. Saturation values displayed by each pulse oximeter and the SaO(2) measured concomitantly by cooximetry were gathered on inclusion and then whenever one of the two sensors did not display a value, or when the difference between the values was greater than five saturation points, or at any time a blood gas analysis was done. RESULTS: During the study period, 83 measures were collected. Using the Bland and Altman method, SaO(2) estimates by the SET system were more accurate than those by the conventional system (bias+/-2 S.D. of 0.0%+/-3.1% vs 2.1%+/-11.0%, respectively), even when only valid values (values accompanied by a satisfactory quality index) were considered (0.0%+/-2.7% vs 1.2%+/-7.0%). CONCLUSIONS: In situations at risk of producing defective signals when using conventional sensors, the SET system provided more valid SaO(2) estimates.

[Syringe drug labels: a French national survey]. / Enquête nationale sur le marquage des seringues d'anesthésie en France.

INTRODUCTION: The French Society of Anaesthesiology (SFAR) recommends the use of pre printed self-stick syringe labels. However, French anaesthesia-syringe labelling customs is yet unknown. STUDY DESIGN: Therefore, a national phone survey was performed in order to investigate this issue. RESULTS: Forty-five percent of the answering centers (324/722) used colour self-stick labels, with a larger proportion in public centers and a large regional variability. The kind of colour code differed from an area to another. Among centers using colour labels, the international recommended colour code was used in only 36% of them. The majority of health care providers declare to be favourable to the use of the colour self-stick labels and the standardization of the colour code as well. A relationship between the University hospital and the surrounded area has been observed for the use of the colour labels and the choice of the colour code. CONCLUSION: Colour labels are used in France by nearly half of the centers, but international colour code is less spread.