[Decisiones de no ingreso en las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos como medida de limitación de los tratamientos de soporte vital: variabilidad geográfica en España]. / Decisions of refusal intensive Care Units' admission as a measure of limitation of life support treatments: geographical variability in Spain.

From a post hoc analysis of the ADENI-UCI study (multicenter, observational, cohort, prospective study, with a follow-up period of 13 months, in 62 Intensive Medicine Services in Spain. geographical differences in the reason for denial of income in UCI as a LTSV measure are analyzed. A total of 2284 with an average age of 75.25 (12.45) years were included. 59.43% male. By means of multinominal regression adjusted by age, sex, APACHE and SOFA, was evident (by choosing the northern for reference) that age in the south was a less significantly exposed reason (OR: 0.48 (IC95%: 0.35-0.65). p.

[Limiting ICU admission from emergency services and wards]. / Limitación del ingreso en unidades de cuidados intensivos desde los servicios de urgencias y las plantas de hospitalización.

INTRODUCTION: Decisions not to admit a patient to intensive care units (ICU) as a way of limiting life support treatment (LLST) is a practice that can affect the operation of the emergency services and the way in which patients die. METHODS: Post hoc analysis of the ADENI-UCI study. The main variable analysed was the reason for refusal of admission to the ICU as a measure of LLST. For the present post hoc analysis, the registered patients were divided into 2 groups: the patients assessed in the intensive medicine services from the emergency department and the patients assessed from the conventional hospitalization areas. Student t was used in the comparative statistics when the mean values of the patient sub-cohorts were compared. Categorical variables were compared with the χ2 tests. RESULTS: The ADENI-ICU study included 2,284 decisions not to admit to the ICU as a measure of LLST. Estimated poor quality of life (p=.0158), the presence of severe chronic disease (P=.0169) and futility of treatment (P=.0006) were percentage decisions with greater weight within the population of hospitalized patients. The percentage of disagreement between the consulting physician and the intensivist was significantly lower in patients assessed from the emergency services (P=.0021). CONCLUSIONS: There are appreciable differences in the reasons for consultation, as well as in those for refusal of admission to an ICU between the consultations made from an emergency department and a conventional hospitalization facility.

Higiene oral con clorhexidina para la prevención de neumonía en pacientes intubados: revisión sistemática de ensayos clínicos aleatorizados / Oral hygiene with chlorhexidine on the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intubated patients: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials

Fundamento y objetivos: La ventilación mecánica se usa al menos en una tercera parte de los pacientes ingresados en unidades de cuidados intensivos (UCI). La neumonía asociada a la ventilación (NAV) es la complicación más frecuente, que afecta de un 8–28% de los pacientes. La prevención de NAV surge como una estrategia importante para el tratamiento de pacientes en UCI. Se han propuesto diferentes estrategias en prevención y, dentro de estas, la higiene oral con clorhexidina surge como una herramienta útil. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de la clorhexidina sobre la prevención de NAV.Pacientes y método: Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura médica de ensayos clínicos controlados que evalúan el efecto de la clorhexidina sobre la prevención de NAV. Se realizó una búsqueda de los artículos indexados en PubMed usando las palabras claves: «oral care OR oral higiene OR chlorhexidine AND ventilator-associated pneumonia». Un revisor independiente evaluó los estudios según los criterios de inclusión y extrajo los datos.Resultados: Se encontraron 120 artículos. De estos, consideramos 10 estudios que cumplían los criterios de inclusión. Se apreció una falta de uniformidad en la aplicación del tratamiento de clorhexidina. Se encontró una reducción en el riesgo de NAV en el grupo clorhexidina comparado con el grupo control (odds ratio: 56, intervalo de confianza del 95%: 44–0,73). Sin embargo, no se apreció una reducción en la mortalidad, el tiempo de ventilación mecánica ni los días de estancia. Conclusiones: La higiene oral con clorhexidina en combinación con otras estrategias de prevención de NAV debe estar incluida en el cuidado general del paciente de UCI (AU)

Background and objective: Mechanical ventilation is used in about one third of patients in intensive cares units (ICU). Ventilator Associated-Pneumonia (VAP) is a frequent infectious complication, affecting approximately 8 to 28% patients. Strategies to prevent the development of VAP are key factors in the management of ICU patients. There have been proposed several strategies to prevent VAP. One of these is oral hygiene with clorhexidine. We evaluated the effect of chlorhexidine on the prevention of VAP. Patients and methods: We conducted a systematic review of controlled clinical trials evaluating the effect of oral hygiene on VAP prevention. A PubMed search was performed using the following keywords: “oral care OR oral hygiene OR chlorhexidine AND ventilator-associated pneumonia”. An independent reviewer evaluated the studies according to the inclusion criteria and extracted the data. Results: A total of 120 articles were found, and 10 of them met the inclusion criteria. A lack of uniformity was appreciated in the application of chlorhexidine. There was a reduction in the risk of VAP in the chlorhexidine group versus control (OR: 0,56, 95% CI: 0,44–0,73). However, neither a reduction in mortality, nor a length of MV nor an ICU length of stay were seen. Conclusions: Oral hygiene with chlorhexidine in combination with other strategies for VAP prevention should be included in the patient's ICU care (AU)

[Oral hygiene with chlorhexidine on the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intubated patients: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials]. / Higiene oral con clorhexidina para la prevención de neumonía en pacientes intubados: revisión sistemática de ensayos clínicos aleatorizados.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mechanical ventilation is used in about one third of patients in intensive cares units (ICU). Ventilator Associated-Pneumonia (VAP) is a frequent infectious complication, affecting approximately 8 to 28% patients. Strategies to prevent the development of VAP are key factors in the management of ICU patients. There have been proposed several strategies to prevent VAP. One of these is oral hygiene with clorhexidine. We evaluated the effect of chlorhexidine on the prevention of VAP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of controlled clinical trials evaluating the effect of oral hygiene on VAP prevention. A PubMed search was performed using the following keywords: "oral care OR oral hygiene OR chlorhexidine AND ventilator-associated pneumonia". An independent reviewer evaluated the studies according to the inclusion criteria and extracted the data. RESULTS: A total of 120 articles were found, and 10 of them met the inclusion criteria. A lack of uniformity was appreciated in the application of chlorhexidine. There was a reduction in the risk of VAP in the chlorhexidine group versus control (OR: 0,56, 95% CI: 0,44-0,73). However, neither a reduction in mortality, nor a length of MV nor an ICU length of stay were seen. CONCLUSIONS: Oral hygiene with chlorhexidine in combination with other strategies for VAP prevention should be included in the patient's ICU care.

A randomized trial of dental brushing for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Poor oral hygiene is associated with respiratory pathogen colonization and secondary lung infection. The impact of adding electric toothbrushing to oral care in order to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) incidence is unknown. METHODS: The study design was a prospective, simple-blind, randomized trial of adult patients intubated for > 48 h. Controlling for exposure to antibiotic treatment, patients were randomized to oral care every 8 h with 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate (standard group) or standard oral care plus electric toothbrushing (toothbrush group). VAP was documented by quantitative respiratory cultures. Mechanical ventilation (MV) duration, hospital ICU length of stay (LOS), antibiotic use, and hospital ICU mortality were secondary end points. RESULTS: The study was terminated after randomizing 147 patients (74 toothbrush group) in a scheduled interim analysis. The two groups were comparable at baseline. The toothbrush group and standard group had similar rates of suspected VAP (20.3% vs 24.7%; p = 0.55). After adjustment for severity of illness and admission diagnosis, the incidence of microbiologically documented VAP was also similar in the two groups (hazard ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.41 to 1.73). The groups did not differ significantly in mortality, antibiotic-free days, duration of MV, or hospital ICU LOS. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the addition of electric toothbrushing to standard oral care with 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate is not effective for the prevention of VAP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00842478.

Management of ventilator-associated pneumonia in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit: does trauma make a difference?

OBJECTIVE: Antibiotic exposure and timing of pneumonia onset influence ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) isolates. The first goal of this investigation was to evaluate whether trauma also influences prevalence of microorganisms. DESIGN: A retrospective, single-center, observational cohort study. SETTING: Multidisciplinary teaching ICU. PATIENTS: Adult patients requiring mechanical ventilation identified as having VAP. INTERVENTIONS: Retrospective evaluation of a prospective manual database. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: VAP isolates in a multidisciplinary ICU documented by quantitative respiratory cultures and recorded in a 42-month database were compared, based on the presence or absence of trauma. Causative microorganisms were classified in four groups, based on mechanical ventilation duration (> 5 days), and previous antibiotic exposure. One hundred eighty-three patients developed 196 episodes of VAP (98 trauma). Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) was more frequent (34.5% vs. 11.5%, p < 0.01) in trauma, whereas methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was more frequent (2% vs. 11.5%, p < 0.01) in non-trauma. No significant differences were found between trauma and non-trauma patients regarding prevalence of other microorganisms. In trauma patients, MSSA episodes were equally distributed between early- and late-onset VAP (51% vs. 49%), but no MRSA episode occurred in the early-onset group. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma influences the microbiology of pneumonia and it should be considered in the initial antibiotic regimen choice. Our data demonstrate that patients with trauma had a higher prevalence of MSSA, but the overall prevalence was sufficiently high to warrant S. aureus coverage for both groups. On the other hand, since no MRSA was isolated during the first 10 days of mechanical ventilation on trauma patients, MRSA coverage in these patients becomes necessary only 10 days after admission.

Risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in presence of recent antibiotic exposure.

BACKGROUND: To facilitate the decision-making process for therapy and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients undergoing recent antibiotic exposure, this study investigated whether the development of VAP episodes caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa or other pathogens are related to different risk factors, thereby distinguishing two risk population for this serious complication. METHODS: A 5-year retrospective case-control observational study was conducted. Cases of VAP caused by P. aeruginosa were compared with those caused by other pathogens. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using SPSS 11.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). RESULTS: Two groups were identified: P. aeruginosa (group P) was isolated in 58 (63.7%) episodes, and 33 episodes served as controls (group C), after a median of 12 days (interquartile range, 4-28 days) and 9 days (interquartile range, 3-12.5 days) of mechanical ventilation, respectively. P. aeruginosa was identified in 34.7% of episodes with early-onset pneumonia and in 73.5% with late-onset pneumonia. In a logistic regression analysis, P. aeruginosa was independently associated with duration of stay of 5 days or longer (relative risk = 3.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-12.35) and absence of coma (relative risk = 8.36; 95% confidence interval, 2.68-26.09). Risk for pathogens different from P. aeruginosa (group C) in early-onset pneumonia associated with coma was estimated to be 87.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Risk factors in episodes under recent antibiotic treatment caused by P. aeruginosa or other microorganism are not the same, a fact that could have implications for preventive and therapeutic approaches for this infection.

Post-infectious acute renal failure due to calciphylaxis--when processes go the wrong way round.

Calciphylaxis is a rare life threatening disorder of small- and medium-sized vessel calcification that leads to cutaneous necrosis. While its pathogenesis is uncertain, nearly all cases have been described in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis or following renal transplantation which is why the lesion has also been referred to as calcific uremic arteriolopathy. We describe a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis and normal renal function who developed calciphylaxis. Due to infected cutaneous lesions, he developed an acute post-infectious glomerulonephritis with extra capillary proliferation.