BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) often occurs in critically ill patients. AKI is associated with mortality and morbidity. Interventions focusing on the reduction of AKI are suggested by the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes guideline. We hypothesized that these educational interventions …

Background & aims: Optimal nutritional support during the acute phase of critical illness remains controversial. We hypothesized that patients with low skeletal muscle area and -density may specifically benefit from early high protein intake. Aim of the present study was to determine the association …

BACKGROUND: Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are daunting environments for physiotherapy (PT) students performing clinical rotations. To prepare students for this environment, a newly developed, evidence-based e-learning module was designed and implemented in the undergraduate curriculum. The aim of this …

Purpose Half of the patients experience pain during their ICU stay which is known to influence their outcomes. Nurses and physicians encounter organizational barriers towards pain assessment and treatment. We aimed to evaluate the association between adequate pain management and nurse to patient ratio, …

BACKGROUND: Hemodynamic assessment of critically ill patients is a challenging endeavor, and advanced monitoring techniques are often required to guide treatment choices. Given the technical complexity and occasional unavailability of these techniques, estimation of cardiac function based on clinical …

Common methods to detect phlebitis may not be sufficient for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of infrared (IR) thermography to objectively detect phlebitis in adult ICU patients. We included a total of 128 adult ICU-patients in a pilot …

The effect and methods of changing the norepinephrine syringe on the Intensive Care Unit: a quantitative, observational pilot study BACKGROUND - The change of a syringe with noradrenalin (NOR) often causes fluctuations in the blood pressure. This nursing intervention occurs often at the Intensive Care …

BACKGROUND: Prophylaxis for gastrointestinal stress ulceration is frequently given to patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), but its risks and benefits are unclear. METHODS: In this European, multicenter, parallel-group, blinded trial, we randomly assigned adults who had been admitted to the ICU …

PURPOSE: To document and analyse the decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment (LST) in a population of very old patients admitted to the ICU. METHODS: This prospective study included intensive care patients aged ≥ 80 years in 309 ICUs from 21 European countries with 30-day mortality …

The critical care community still has mixed feelings when considering the optimal nutrition of intensive care unit (ICU) patients, which is understandable as randomized controlled trials have not been very helpful in improving clinical practice. There have been no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) …