One fourth of unplanned transfers to a higher level of care are associated with a highly preventable adverse event: a patient record review in six Belgian hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence and preventability of adverse events requiring an unplanned higher level of care, defined as an unplanned transfer to the ICU or an in-hospital medical emergency team intervention, and to assess the type and the level of harm of each adverse event. DESIGN: A three-stage retrospective review process of screening, record review, and consensus judgment was performed. SETTING: Six Belgian acute hospitals. PATIENTS: During a 6-month period, all patients with an unplanned need for a higher level of care were selected. INTERVENTIONS: The records 6-month period, the records of all patients with an unplanned need for a higher level of care were assessed by a trained clinical team consisting of a research nurse, a physician, and a clinical pharmacist. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Adverse events were found in 465 of the 830 reviewed patient records (56%). Of these, 215 (46%) were highly preventable. The overall incidence rate of patients being transferred to a higher level of care involving an adverse event was 117.6 (95% CI, 106.9-128.3) per 100,000 patient days at risk, of which 54.4 (95% CI, 47.15-61.65) per 100,000 patient days at risk involving a highly preventable adverse event. This means that 25.9% of all unplanned transfers to a higher level of care were associated with a highly preventable adverse event. The adverse events were mainly associated with drug therapy (25.6%), surgery (23.7%), diagnosis (12.4%), and system issues (12.4%). The level of harm varied from temporary harm (55.7%) to long-term or permanent impairment (19.1%) and death (25.2%). Although the direct causality is often hard to prove, it is reasonable to consider these adverse events as a contributing factor. CONCLUSION: Adverse events were found in 56% of the reviewed records, of which almost half were considered highly preventable. This means that one fourth of all unplanned transfers to a higher level of care were associated with a highly preventable adverse event.

Design of a medical record review study on the incidence and preventability of adverse events requiring a higher level of care in Belgian hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Adverse events are unintended patient injuries that arise from healthcare management resulting in disability, prolonged hospital stay or death. Adverse events that require intensive care admission imply a considerable financial burden to the healthcare system. The epidemiology of adverse events in Belgian hospitals has never been assessed systematically. FINDINGS: A multistage retrospective review study of patients requiring a transfer to a higher level of care will be conducted in six hospitals in the province of Limburg. Patient records are reviewed starting from January 2012 by a clinical team consisting of a research nurse, a physician and a clinical pharmacist. Besides the incidence and the level of causation and preventability, also the type of adverse events and their consequences (patient harm, mortality and length of stay) will be assessed. Moreover, the adequacy of the patient records and quality/usefulness of the method of medical record review will be evaluated. DISCUSSION: This paper describes the rationale for a retrospective review study of adverse events that necessitate a higher level of care. More specifically, we are particularly interested in increasing our understanding in the preventability and root causes of these events in order to implement improvement strategies. Attention is paid to the strengths and limitations of the study design.

Thyroid hormone receptor isoform expression in livers of critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVE: The THRA gene encodes two isoforms of the thyroid hormone receptor (TR), TRalpha1 and TRalpha2. The ratio of these splice variants could have a marked influence on T3-regulated gene expression, especially during illness. DESIGN: We studied the expression of the isoforms TRbeta1, TRalpha1, and TRalpha2 and 5'-deiodinase in postmortem liver biopsies of 58 patients who were critically ill and died in the intensive care unit (ICU). All mRNA levels were determined using real-time PCR. MAIN OUTCOME: All ratios of the biopsies were higher than those found in three normal liver biopsies due to an increased TRalpha1 level. The TRalpha1/TRalpha2 ratio increased with age and severity of illness following the equation: TRalpha1/TRalpha2 ratio = - 1.854 + (0.0323 x age) + (0.0431 x Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System score) indicating that 28% of the changed TRalpha1/TRalpha2 ratio can be predicted by these clinical variables. There was no effect of randomization to intensive insulin therapy or glucocorticoid or thyroid hormone treatment on the TRalpha1/TRalpha2 ratio or TRbeta1. Furthermore, no relation was seen between the expression levels of the 5'-deiodinase mRNA and TR isoforms or the triiodothyronine T3 levels. CONCLUSION: It appears that in critically ill patients the ratio of TRalpha1/TRalpha2 expression increases with age and severity of illness, possibly indicating a mechanism to enhance sensitivity to T3 in the oldest and sickest patients.

Endocrine modifications and interventions during critical illness.

The ongoing hypermetabolic response in patients with prolonged critical illness leads to the loss of lean tissue mass. Since the cachexia of prolonged illness is usually associated with low concentrations of anabolic hormones, hormonal intervention has been thought to be beneficial. However, most interventions have been shown to be ineffective and their indiscriminate use even causes harm. Before considering endocrine intervention in these frail patients, a detailed understanding of the neuroendocrinology of the stress response is warranted. It is now clear that the acute phase and the later phase of critical illness behave differently from an endocrinological point of view. The acute stress response consists primarily of an actively-secreting pituitary in the presence of low circulating peripheral anabolic hormones, suggesting resistance of the peripheral tissues to the effects of anterior pituitary hormones. However, when the disease process becomes prolonged, there is a uniformly-reduced pulsatile secretion of anterior pituitary hormones with proportionally reduced concentrations of peripheral anabolic hormones. The origin of this suppressed pituitary secretion is located in the hypothalamus, as hypothalamic secretagogues can reactivate the anterior pituitary and restore pulsatile secretion. The reactivated pituitary secretion is accompanied by an increase in peripheral target hormones, indicating at least partial sensitivity of these tissues to anterior pituitary hormones in this chronic phase of illness. Thus, endocrine intervention with a combination of hypothalamic secretagogues that more completely reactivate the anterior pituitary could be a more physiological and effective strategy for inducing anabolism in patients with prolonged critical illness.

Endocrine and metabolic effects of growth hormone (GH) compared with GH-releasing peptide, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and insulin infusion in a rabbit model of prolonged critical illness.

Treatment with recombinant human GH (rhGH) increases the mortality of critical illness. We postulated that combined GH-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2), TRH, and insulin infusion is a less toxic anabolic strategy through a putative inability to overstimulate the GH axis and a capacity to normalize thyroid hormone concentrations while foregoing excessive hyperglycemia. Burn-injured, parenterally fed, New Zealand White rabbits were randomized to receive 4-d treatment with saline (n=8); 60 microg/kg.h GHRP-2 and 60 microg/kg.h TRH, i.v. (n=9); or 3.5 mg/kg rhGH, s.c. (n=7). In the GHRP-2+TRH group, insulin was adjusted to maintain blood glucose below 180 mg/dl. Endocrine function and biochemical organ system function markers were studied. Animals were killed for assay of deiodinase activity in snap-frozen liver. Mortality, organ system function, hyperglycemia, and insulin requirement were equal in the three groups. GHRP-2+TRH increased pulsatile rabbit GH (rGH) and TSH release on d 1. After 4 d, rGH secretion and T4 and T3 concentrations were elevated, with a significant increase in hepatic activity of type 1 deiodinase and a decrease in type 3 deiodinase. Exogenous rhGH suppressed endogenous rGH secretion and increased IGF-I more than GHRP-2+TRH without altering thyroid hormone levels. Unlike GHRP-2+TRH, rhGH down-regulated liver type 3 deiodinase and did not affect type 1 deiodinase. We conclude that in experimentally induced critical illness, GHRP-2+TRH reactivated the GH and TSH axes and altered liver deiodinase activity, driving T4 to T3 conversion. In contrast to the human model, high dose rhGH was not rapidly lethal in this rabbit model. Whether this is explained by lack of rhGH-induced insulin resistance and hyperglycemia remains unclear.

Metabolic, endocrine, and immune effects of stress hyperglycemia in a rabbit model of prolonged critical illness.

Stress hyperglycemia is frequent in critically ill patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of blood glucose control with insulin on endocrine, metabolic, and immune function in an animal model of severe injury. Seventy-two hours after alloxan injection and exogenous insulin infusion combined with continuous iv parenteral nutrition, male New Zealand White rabbits received a burn injury and were allocated to a normoglycemic (n = 17) or hyperglycemic (n = 13) group. In the normoglycemic group, blood glucose levels were kept between 3.3 and 6.1 mmol/liter by insulin infusion, whereas in the hyperglycemic group blood glucose levels were maintained at 13.8-16.6 mmol/liter. Blood was drawn for biochemical analysis at regular time points. At 24 and 72 h after burn injury, immune function of monocytes was assessed in vitro. Maintenance of normoglycemia with exogenous insulin after severe trauma to a large extent prevented weight loss, lactic acidosis, and hyponatremia. Furthermore, within 3 d after injury, the intervention improved phagocytosis of monocytes investigated in fresh cells by more than a mean 150% (P = 0.006) and after 24-h incubation with or without lipopolysaccharide by more than a mean 4-fold (P = 0.001) and 2-fold (P = 0.05), respectively. Oxidative killing after 24-h incubation was also improved by 2-fold (P = 0.05), but no effect on chemotaxis was detected. Concomitantly, inflammation and stress-induced growth hormone hypersecretion were suppressed. Prevention of catabolism, acidosis, excessive inflammation, and impaired innate immune function may explain previously documented beneficial effects of intensive insulin therapy on outcome of critical illness.

Outcome benefit of intensive insulin therapy in the critically ill: Insulin dose versus glycemic control.

OBJECTIVES: Maintenance of normoglycemia with insulin reduces mortality and morbidity of critically ill patients. Here we report the factors determining insulin requirements and the impact of insulin dose vs. blood glucose control on the observed outcome benefits. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: A 56-bed predominantly surgical intensive care unit in a tertiary teaching hospital. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION: A total of 1,548 patients were randomly assigned to either strict normalization of blood glucose (80-110 mg/dL) with insulin infusion or the conventional approach, in which insulin is only given to maintain blood glucose levels at 180-200 mg/dL. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: It was feasible and safe to achieve and maintain blood glucose levels at <110 mg/dL by using a titration algorithm. Stepwise linear regression analysis identified body mass index, history of diabetes, reason for intensive care unit admission, at-admission hyperglycemia, caloric intake, and time in intensive care unit as independent determinants of insulin requirements, together explaining 36% of its variation. With nutritional intake increasing from a mean of 550 to 1600 calories/day during the first 7 days of intensive care, normoglycemia was reached within 24 hrs, with a mean daily insulin dose of 77 IU and maintained with 94 IU on day 7. Insulin requirements were highest and most variable during the first 6 hrs of intensive care (mean, 7 IU/hr; 10% of patients required >20 IU/hr). Between day 7 and 12, insulin requirements decreased by 40% on stable caloric intake. Brief, clinically harmless hypoglycemia occurred in 5.2% of intensive insulin-treated patients on median day 6 (2-14) vs. 0.8% of conventionally treated patients on day 11 (2-10). The outcome benefits of intensive insulin therapy were equally present regardless of whether patients received enteral feeding. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the lowered blood glucose level rather than the insulin dose was related to reduced mortality (p <.0001), critical illness polyneuropathy (p <.0001), bacteremia (p =.02), and inflammation (p =.0006) but not to prevention of acute renal failure, for which the insulin dose was an independent determinant (p =.03). As compared with normoglycemia, an intermediate blood glucose level (110-150 mg/dL) was associated with worse outcome. CONCLUSION: Normoglycemia was safely reached within 24 hrs and maintained during intensive care by using insulin titration guidelines. Metabolic control, as reflected by normoglycemia, rather than the infused insulin dose, was related to the beneficial effects of intensive insulin therapy.

Regulation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 during protracted critical illness.

IGF binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1), an important regulator of IGF bioavailability, has been shown to correlate with mortality in critically ill patients. In the liver, IGFBP-1 is transcriptionally repressed by insulin, and it is therefore a potential marker of hepatic insulin sensitivity. We have recently shown that, compared with conventional treatment, maintenance of normoglycemia with intensive insulin therapy decreased morbidity and mortality of continuously fed critically ill patients. This study compares the effect of conventional and intensive insulin therapy on IGFBP-1 and assesses its predictive value for mortality. In 363 patients who were dependent on intensive care for more than 7 d and were randomly assigned to either conventional or intensive insulin therapy, serum IGFBP-1 levels were measured on admission, on d 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, and on the day of intensive care unit discharge or death. In addition, IGFBP-1 and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA levels were measured by real-time RT-PCR in postmortem liver biopsies obtained from 74 patients who died in the intensive care unit. Although intensive insulin treatment lowered glycemia, it had no effect on IGFBP-1 serum levels. Instead, serum IGFBP-1 concentration was significantly higher in patients who ultimately died, and it differentiated nonsurvivors from survivors 3 wk before death. The predictive value of serum IGFBP-1 for mortality was similar to that of the APACHE-II score. Like circulating IGFBP-1, hepatic mRNA levels of IGFBP-1 and the similarly insulin-regulated gene, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, were not significantly different between conventional and intensive insulin therapy groups. These data suggest that hepatic insulin resistance in prolonged critically ill patients, reflected by high serum IGFBP-1 levels, is not overcome by intensive insulin therapy, and that this may affect patient outcome.

The combined administration of GH-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2), TRH and GnRH to men with prolonged critical illness evokes superior endocrine and metabolic effects compared to treatment with GHRP-2 alone.

OBJECTIVE: Central hyposomatotrophism, hypothyroidism and hypogonadism are present concomitantly in men with prolonged critical illness. This study evaluated the impact of combined treatment with GH-releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2), TRH and GnRH for 5 days compared with GHRP-2 + TRH and with GHRP-2 alone. PATIENTS AND DESIGN: Thirty-three men with prolonged critical illness participated at baseline compared to 50 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls. Patients were randomly assigned to 5 days of placebo (n = 7), GHRP-2 (1 microg/kg/h; n = 9), GHRP-2 + TRH infusion (1 + 1 microg/kg/h; n = 9) or pulsatile GnRH (0.1 microg/kg every 90 min) together with GHRP-2 + TRH infusion (n = 8). MEASUREMENTS: GH, TSH and LH secretion were quantified by deconvolution analysis of serum concentration time series obtained by sampling every 20 min from 2100 to 0600 h at baseline and on nights 1 and 5 of treatment. Serum concentrations of IGF-I, IGFBPs, thyroid hormones, gonadal and adrenal steroids, proinflammatory cytokines and selected metabolic and inflammation markers were measured daily. RESULTS: Patients revealed suppressed pulsatile GH, TSH and LH secretion in the face of low serum concentrations of IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and the acid-labile subunit (ALS) (P < 0.0001 each), thyroid hormones (P < 0.0001) and total and estimated free testosterone (P < 0.0001) levels, whereas free oestradiol (E2) estimates were normal. Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) levels were also suppressed whereas morning cortisol was normal. Serum levels of type I procollagen (PICP) and bone alkaline phosphatase (sALP) were elevated whereas osteocalcin (OC) was low (P = 0.03). Ureagenesis (P < 0.0001) and breakdown of bone tissue (P < 0.0001) were increased. Baseline serum TNF-alpha, IL-6 and C-reactive protein level and white blood cell (WBC) count were elevated; serum lactate was normal. Only low T4 and high IGFBP-1 levels independently predicted mortality. GHRP-2 infusion reactivated GH secretion and normalized serum IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and ALS. GHRP-2 + TRH infusion reactivated both the GH axis and the thyroid axis, with normal levels of T4 and T3 reached within 1 day. Only GHRP-2 + TRH infusion combined with GnRH pulses reactivated the GH and TSH axis and at the same time increased pulsatile LH secretion compared to placebo. Only GnRH pulses together with GHRP-2 + TRH infusion increased testosterone significantly from day 2 (peak increase of + 312%) through day 5 and serum E2 with > 80% from day 1 through day 3 (all P = 0.05). Ureagenesis was reduced by GHRP-2 + TRH + GnRH (P = 0.01) and by GHRP-2 + TRH (P = 0.009) but not by GHRP-2 alone. Serum OC levels were increased only by GHRP-2 + TRH + GnRH (P = 0.03), with a trend for GHRP-2 + TRH (P = 0.09), but not by GHRP-2 alone. On day 5, serum lactate levels and WBC count were increased by GHRP-2 infused alone and in combination with TRH but not by GHRP-2 + TRH + GnRH. CONCLUSIONS: Coadministration of GHRP-2, TRH and GnRH reactivated the GH, TSH and LH axes in prolonged critically ill men and evoked beneficial metabolic effects which were absent with GHRP-2 infusion alone and only partially present with GHRP-2 + TRH. These data underline the importance of correcting the multiple hormonal deficits in patients with prolonged critical illness to counteract the hypercatabolic state.

A novel in vivo rabbit model of hypercatabolic critical illness reveals a biphasic neuroendocrine stress response.

High doses of GH, used to induce anabolism in prolonged critically ill patients, unexpectedly increased mortality. To further explore underlying mechanisms, a valid animal model is needed. Such a model is presented in this study. Seven days after arterial and venous cannulae placement, male New Zealand White rabbits were randomly allocated to a control or a critically ill group. To induce prolonged critical illness, a template controlled 15% deep dermal burn injury was imposed under combined general and regional (paravertebral) anesthesia. Subsequently, critically ill rabbits received supplemental analgesia and were parenterally fed with glucose, insulin, amino acids, and lipids. On d 1 and d 8 after randomization, acute and chronic spontaneous hormonal profiles of GH, TSH, and PRL secretion were obtained by sampling blood every 15 min for 7 h. Furthermore, GH, TSH, and PRL responses to an iv bolus of GH-releasing peptide 2 (GHRP-2) + TRH were documented on d 0, 1, and 8. Hemodynamic status and biochemical parameters were evaluated on d 0, 1, 3, 5, and 8, after which animals were killed and relative wet weight and water content of organs was determined. Compared with controls, critically ill animals exhibited transient metabolic acidosis on d 1 and weight loss, organ wasting, systolic hypertension, and pronounced anemia on d 8. On d 1, pulsatile GH secretion doubled in the critically ill animals compared with controls, and decreased again on d 8 in the presence of low plasma IGF-I concentrations from d 1 to d 8. GH responses to GHRP-2 + TRH were elevated on d 1 and increased further on d 8 in the critically ill animals. Mean TSH concentrations were identical in both groups on d 1 and 8, in the face of dramatically suppressed plasma T(4) and T(3) concentrations in the critically ill animals. PRL secretion was impaired in the critically ill animals exclusively on d 8. TSH and PRL responses to GHRP-2 and TRH were increased only on d 1. In conclusion, this rabbit model of acute and prolonged critical illness reveals several of the clinical, biochemical, and endocrine manifestations of the human counterpart.