Fifteen-minute consultation: Airway management in the acutely unwell child requiring intubation for the general paediatrician.

Emergency endotracheal intubation is a high risk procedure in acutely unwell children and is commonly jointly managed by paediatricians and anaesthetists. This article aims to develop a shared understanding of the practicalities and language around the risk factors for difficult intubation and management of failed intubation, including the approach to situations where you cannot intubate and or cannot ventilate, to improve communication and team working between these dynamic interdisciplinary teams.

Vancomycin-associated nephrotoxicity in the critically ill: a retrospective multivariate regression analysis*.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the influence of vancomycin dose, serum trough concentration, and dosing strategy on the evolution of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients. DESIGN: Retrospective, single-center, observational study. SETTING: University Hospital ICU, Birmingham, UK. PATIENTS: All critically ill patients receiving vancomycin from December 1, 2004, to August 31, 2009. INTERVENTION: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The prevalence of new onset nephrotoxicity was reported using Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End-stage renal disease criteria, and independent factors predictive of nephrotoxicity were identified using logistic regression analysis. Complete data were available for 1,430 patients. Concomitant vasoactive therapy (odds ratio = 1.633; p < 0.001), median serum vancomycin (odds ratio = 1.112; p < 0.001), and duration of therapy (odds ratio = 1.041; p ≤ 0.001) were significant positive predictors of nephrotoxicity. Intermittent infusion was associated with a significantly greater risk of nephrotoxicity than continuous infusion (odds ratio = 8.204; p ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In a large dataset, higher serum vancomycin concentrations and greater duration of therapy are independently associated with increased odds of nephrotoxicity. Furthermore, continuous infusion is associated with a decreased likelihood of nephrotoxicity compared with intermittent infusion. This large dataset supports the use of continuous infusion of vancomycin in critically ill patients.