Family meetings are often necessary to communicate with families and determine the next steps in caring for patients. For most of these family meetings, the patient may be too ill to participate. Furthermore, the ICU team often has never met the patient before the onset of severe illness. This creates a situation where the patient’s…
Anesthesia and Critical Care Reviews and Commentary (ACCRAC) Podcast Episode 310: Cardiac Workup Guidelines with Drs. Thompson, Steppan and Suffredini Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 10 seconds 00:00 / Subscribe Share In this 310th episode I welcome Dr. Annemarie Thompson, head of the working group that put out…
What was it? Multicenter, randomized clinical trial (REST trial) evaluating lower tidal volume ventilation (3-4 mL/kg predicted body weight) facilitated by extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO₂R) versus standard care ventilation (6-8 mL/kg predicted body weight) in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) in intensive care units (ICUs). The Devil in the Details! 412 patients…
What was it? Multicenter, intervention-concealed, randomized controlled trial (ADAPT-Sepsis) evaluating biomarker-guided protocols using procalcitonin (PCT) or C-reactive protein (CRP) versus standard care to guide antibiotic duration in critically ill adults with suspected sepsis in UK intensive care units (ICUs). The Devil in the Details! 2,760 patients analyzed (918 PCT, 924 CRP, 918 standard care) across…
What was it? Multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial (BLING III) evaluating continuous versus intermittent infusion of β-lactam antibiotics (piperacillin-tazobactam or meropenem) in critically ill patients with sepsis, conducted across 104 intensive care units (ICUs) in Australia, Belgium, France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The Devil in the Details! 7,031 patients analyzed (3,498…
What was it? Multicenter, prospective diagnostic cohort study evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) compared to clinical evaluation for determining death by neurologic criteria (DNC, also known as brain death) in critically ill patients. The Devil in the Details! 140 patients analyzed across 8 Canadian hospitals. Adult…
What was it? Multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial evaluating proportional-assist ventilation with load-adjustable gain factors (PAV+), versus pressure-support ventilation (PSV), to reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation in critically ill adults. The Devil in the Details! 23 centres in 7 countries 573 patients analyzed PAV+ versus PSV initiated within 48 hours of mechanical ventilation. Adult…
Here’s a throwback to #HR23 when Andre Denault first introduced the PAC with an RV port to analyze the RV waveform, which we usually only have during initial advancement of the PAC (I confess I have sometimes pulled back just to get it and look at that slope!). But these are now available! As always,…
Jun 7, 2025 The guest on this episode is Professor Rob Mac Sweeney, who founded and leads the hugely valuable organisation Critical Care Reviews. Rob is a Consultant Intensivist at the Royal Victoria Hospital and an Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Rob founded Critical Care Reviews back in 2008 and this has…
Postrenal failure, also known as postrenal acute kidney injury (AKI), is a condition that occurs when urine flow is obstructed after it leaves the kidneys. Unlike prerenal or intrarenal causes of AKI, which affect blood flow or the kidney tissue itself, postrenal failure is due to physical blockages in the urinary tract, preventing normal urine…