The use of continuous positive airway pressure during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: In a preliminary study during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave, we reported a high rate of success with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in preventing death and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). That study, however, was too small to identify risk factors for mortality, barotrauma and impact on subsequent IMV. Thus, we re-evaluated the efficacy of the same CPAP protocol in a larger series of patients during second and third pandemic waves. Methods: 281 COVID-19 patients with moderate-to-severe acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (158 full-code and 123 do-not-intubate (DNI)), were managed with high-flow CPAP early in their hospitalisation. IMV was considered after 4 days of unsuccessful CPAP. Results: The overall recovery rate from respiratory failure was 50% in the DNI and 89% in the full-code group. Among the latter, 71% recovered with CPAP-only, 3% died under CPAP and 26% were intubated after a median CPAP time of 7 days (IQR: 5-12 days). Of the patients who were intubated, 68% recovered and were discharged from the hospital within 28 days. Barotrauma occurred during CPAP in <4% of patients. Age (OR 1.128; p <0.001) and tomographic severity score (OR 1.139; p=0.006) were the only independent predictors of mortality. Conclusions: Early treatment with CPAP is a safe option for patients with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure due to COVID-19.

Early versus late tracheostomy for traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Tracheostomy is the most frequent bedside surgical procedure performed on patients with traumatic brain injury who require mechanical ventilation. To compare the effects of early tracheostomy vs. late tracheostomy on the duration of mechanical ventilation in patients with traumatic brain injury, we carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane were searched from inception to 17th October 2022. Eligible clinical trials and observational studies reporting early versus late tracheostomy in TBI were searched. Two reviewers extracted data and independently assessed the risk of bias. The duration of mechanical ventilation was the primary outcome. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: We pooled standardized mean differences and risk differences for random effects model. A total of 368 studies were retrieved and screened. Nineteen studies were selected, including 6253 patients. Mean time for early tracheostomy and late tracheostomy procedures was 6±2.9 days and 17±10.7 days, respectively. Early tracheostomy was associated with shorter mechanical ventilation duration (SMD=-1.79, 95% CI -2.71; -0.88) and fewer ventilator associated pneumonia (RD=-0.11, 95% CI -0.16; -0.06) when compared with late tracheostomy. Moreover, intensive care unit (ICU) (SMD=-1.64, 95% CI -2.44; -0.84) and hospital (SMD=-1.26, 95% CI -1.97; -0.56) length of stay were shorter when compared with late tracheostomy. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this meta-analysis suggest that early tracheostomy in severe TBI patients contributes to a lower exposure to secondary insults and nosocomial adverse events, increasing the opportunity of patient's early rehabilitation and discharge.

Electrocardiographic Time-Intervals Waveforms as Potential Predictors for Severe Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) and is frequently associated with poorer outcomes. Hence, if an indicator is available for predicting severe AKI within the first few hours of admission, management strategies can be put into place to improve outcomes. Materials and methods: This was a prospective, observational study, involving 63 critically ill patients, that aimed to explore the diagnostic accuracy of different Doppler parameters in predicting AKI in critically ill patients from a mixed ICU. Participants were enrolled at ICU admission. All underwent ultrasonographic examinations and hemodynamic assessment. Renal Doppler resistive index (RDRI), venous impedance index (VII), arterial systolic time intervals (a-STI), and venous systolic time intervals (v-STI) were measured within 2 h from ICU admission. Results: Cox proportional hazards models, including a-STI, v-STI, VII, and RDRI as independent variables, returned a-STI as the only putative predictor for the development of AKI or severe AKI. An overall statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) was observed in the Kaplan−Meier plots for cumulative AKI events between patients with a-STI higher or equal than 0.37 and for cumulative severe AKI-3 between patients with a-STI higher or equal than 0.63. As assessed by the area under the receiver operating curves (ROC) curves, a-STI performed best in diagnosing any AKI and/or severe AKI-3. Positive correlations were found between a-STI and the N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-pro BNP) (ρ = 0.442, p < 0.001), the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score (ρ: 0.361, p = 0.004), and baseline serum creatinine (ρ: 0.529, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Critically ill patients who developed AKI had statistically significant different a-STI (on admission to ICU), v-STI, and VII than those who did not. Moreover, a-STI was associated with the development of AKI at day 5 and provided the best diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of any AKI or severe AKI compared with RDRI, VII, and v-STI.

Postoperative pain management in non-traumatic emergency general surgery: WSES-GAIS-SIAARTI-AAST guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Non-traumatic emergency general surgery involves a heterogeneous population that may present with several underlying diseases. Timeous emergency surgical treatment should be supplemented with high-quality perioperative care, ideally performed by multidisciplinary teams trained to identify and handle complex postoperative courses. Uncontrolled or poorly controlled acute postoperative pain may result in significant complications. While pain management after elective surgery has been standardized in perioperative pathways, the traditional perioperative treatment of patients undergoing emergency surgery is often a haphazard practice. The present recommended pain management guidelines are for pain management after non-traumatic emergency surgical intervention. It is meant to provide clinicians a list of indications to prescribe the optimal analgesics even in the absence of a multidisciplinary pain team. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An international expert panel discussed the different issues in subsequent rounds. Four international recognized scientific societies: World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES), Global Alliance for Infection in Surgery (GAIS), Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia Intensive Care (SIAARTI), and American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), endorsed the project and approved the final manuscript. CONCLUSION: Dealing with acute postoperative pain in the emergency abdominal surgery setting is complex, requires special attention, and should be multidisciplinary. Several tools are available, and their combination is mandatory whenever is possible. Analgesic approach to the various situations and conditions should be patient based and tailored according to procedure, pathology, age, response, and available expertise. A better understanding of the patho-mechanisms of postoperative pain for short- and long-term outcomes is necessary to improve prophylactic and treatment strategies.

Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Awake Non-Intubated Patients With COVID-19 ARDS at High Risk for Barotrauma.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of an awake venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) management strategy in preventing clinically relevant barotrauma in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at high risk for pneumothorax (PNX)/pneumomediastinum (PMD), defined as the detection of the Macklin-like effect on chest computed tomography (CT) scan. DESIGN: A case series. SETTING: At the intensive care unit of a tertiary-care institution. PARTICIPANTS: Seven patients with COVID-19-associated severe ARDS and Macklin-like radiologic sign on baseline chest CT. INTERVENTIONS: Primary VV-ECMO under spontaneous breathing instead of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). All patients received noninvasive ventilation or oxygen through a high-flow nasal cannula before and during ECMO support. The study authors collected data on cannulation strategy, clinical management, and outcome. Failure of awake VV-ECMO strategy was defined as the need for IMV due to worsening respiratory failure or delirium/agitation. The primary outcome was the development of PNX/PMD. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: No patient developed PNX/PMD. The awake VV-ECMO strategy failed in 1 patient (14.3%). Severe complications were observed in 4 (57.1%) patients and were noted as the following: intracranial bleeding in 1 patient (14.3%), septic shock in 2 patients (28.6%), and secondary pulmonary infections in 3 patients (42.8%). Two patients died (28.6%), whereas 5 were successfully weaned off VV-ECMO and were discharged home. CONCLUSIONS: VV-ECMO in awake and spontaneously breathing patients with severe COVID-19 ARDS may be a feasible and safe strategy to prevent the development of PNX/PMD in patients at high risk for this complication.

Ultrasound localization of central vein catheter tip by contrast-enhanced transthoracic ultrasonography: a comparison study with trans-esophageal echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: To assess the usefulness of pre-operative contrast-enhanced transthoracic echocardiography (CE-TTE) and post-operative chest-x-ray (CXR) for evaluating central venous catheter (CVC) tip placements, with trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE) as gold standard. METHODS: A prospective single-center, observational study was performed in 111 patients requiring CVC positioning into the internal jugular vein for elective cardiac surgery. At the end of CVC insertion by landmark technique, a contrast-enhanced TTE was performed by both the apical four-chambers and epigastric bicaval acoustic view to assess catheter tip position; then, a TEE was performed and considered as a reference technique. A postoperative CXR was obtained for all patients. RESULTS: As per TEE, 74 (67%) catheter tips were correctly placed and 37 (33%) misplaced. Considering intravascular and intracardiac misplacements together, they were detected in 8 patients by CE-TTE via apical four-chamber view, 36 patients by CE-TTE via epigastric bicaval acoustic view, and 12 patients by CXR. For the detection of catheter tip misplacement, CE-TTE via epigastric bicaval acoustic view was the most accurate method providing 97% sensitivity, 90% specificity, and 92% diagnostic accuracy if compared with either CE-TTE via apical four-chamber view or CXR. Concordance with TEE was 79% (p < 0.001) for CE-TTE via epigastric bicaval acoustic view. CONCLUSIONS: The concordance between CE-TTE via epigastric bicaval acoustic view and TEE suggests the use of the former as a standard technique to ensure the correct positioning of catheter tip after central venous cannulation to optimize the use of hospital resources and minimize radiation exposure.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in COVID-19 patients: a pocket guide for radiologists.

During the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been proposed as a possible therapy for COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. This pictorial review is intended to provide radiologists with up-to-date information regarding different types of ECMO devices, correct placement of ECMO cannulae, and imaging features of potential complications and disease evolution in COVID-19 patients treated with ECMO, which is essential for a correct interpretation of diagnostic imaging, so as to guide proper patient management.

Ten conditions where lung ultrasonography may fail: limits, pitfalls and lessons learned from a computer-aided algorithmic approach.

Lung ultrasonography provides relevant information on morphological and functional changes occurring in the lungs. However, it correlates weakly with pulmonary congestion and extra vascular lung water. Moreover, there is lack of consensus on scoring systems and acquisition protocols. The automation of this technique may provide promising easy-to-use clinical tools to reduce inter- and intra-observer variability and to standardize scores, allowing faster data collection without increased costs and patients risks.

Second-order grey-scale texture analysis of pleural ultrasound images to differentiate acute respiratory distress syndrome and cardiogenic pulmonary edema.

Discriminating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE) may be challenging in critically ill patients. Aim of this study was to investigate if gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) analysis of lung ultrasound (LUS) images can differentiate ARDS from CPE. The study population consisted of critically ill patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) with acute respiratory failure and submitted to LUS and extravascular lung water monitoring, and of a healthy control group (HCG). A digital analysis of pleural line and subpleural space, based on the GLCM with second order statistical texture analysis, was tested. We prospectively evaluated 47 subjects: 16 with a clinical diagnosis of CPE, 8 of ARDS, and 23 healthy subjects. By comparing ARDS and CPE patients' subgroups with HCG, the one-way ANOVA models found a statistical significance in 9 out of 11 GLCM textural features. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons found statistical significance within each matrix feature for ARDS vs. CPE and CPE vs. HCG (P ≤ 0.001 for all). For ARDS vs. HCG a statistical significance occurred only in two matrix features (correlation: P = 0.005; homogeneity: P = 0.048). The quantitative method proposed has shown high diagnostic accuracy in differentiating normal lung from ARDS or CPE, and good diagnostic accuracy in differentiating CPE and ARDS. Gray-level co-occurrence matrix analysis of LUS images has the potential to aid pulmonary edemas differential diagnosis.

Low diaphragm muscle mass predicts adverse outcome in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia: an exploratory pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether measurement of diaphragm thickness (DT) by ultrasonography may be a clinically useful noninvasive method for identifying patients at risk of adverse outcomes defined as need of invasive mechanical ventilation or death. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 77 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection admitted to our intermediate care unit in Pisa between March 5 and March 30, 2020, with follow-up until hospital discharge or death. Logistic regression was used identify variables potentially associated with adverse outcomes and those P<0.10 were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model. Cumulative probability for lack of adverse outcomes in patients with or without low baseline diaphragm muscle mass was calculated with the Kaplan-Meier product-limit estimator. RESULTS: The main findings of this study are that: 1) patients who developed adverse outcomes had thinner diaphragm than those who did not (2.0 vs. 2.2 mm, P=0.001); and 2) DT and lymphocyte count were independent significant predictors of adverse outcomes, with end-expiratory DT being the strongest (ß=-708; OR=0.492; P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Diaphragmatic ultrasound may be a valid tool to evaluate the risk of respiratory failure. Evaluating the need of mechanical ventilation treatment should be based not only on PaO2/FiO2, but on a more comprehensive assessment including DT because if the lungs become less compliant a thinner diaphragm, albeit free of intrinsic abnormality, may become exhausted, thus contributing to severe respiratory failure.

Diaphragmatic thickening fraction as a potential predictor of response to continuous positive airway pressure ventilation in Covid-19 pneumonia: A single-center pilot study.

BACKGROUND: In a variable number of Covid-19 patients with acute respiratory failure, non-invasive breathing support strategies cannot provide adequate oxygenation, thus making invasive mechanical ventilation necessary. Factors predicting this unfavorable outcome are unknown, but we hypothesized that diaphragmatic weakness may contribute. METHODS: We prospectively analyzed the data of 27 consecutive patients admitted to the general Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from March 19, 2020, to April 20, 2020 and submitted to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) before considering invasive ventilation. Diaphragmatic thickening fraction (DTF) inferred by ultrasound was determined before applying CPAP. RESULTS: Eighteen patients recovered with CPAP, whereas nine required invasive mechanical ventilation with longer stay in ICU (p < 0.001) and hospital (p = 0.003). At univariate logistic regression analysis, CPAP failure was significantly associated with low DTF [ß: -0.396; OR: 0.673; p < 0.001] and high respiratory rate [ß: 0.452; OR: 1.572; p < 0.001] but only DTF reached statistical significance at multivariate analysis [ß: -0.384; OR: 0.681; p < 0.001]. The DTF best threshold predicting CPAP failure was 21.4 % (AUC: 0.944; sensitivity: 94.4 %, specificity: 88.9 %). CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill patients with Covid-19 respiratory failure admitted to ICU, a reduced DTF could be a potential predictor of CPAP failure and requirement of invasive ventilation.