Background At outset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the significance of bacterial and fungal coinfections in individuals with COVID-19 was unknown. Initial reports indicated that the prevalence of coinfection in the general population was low, but there was uncertainty regarding the risk of coinfection in critically ill patients.
Methods Nine hundred critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 infection were enrolled in this observational case-control study. Patients with a coinfection (case) and patients without a coinfection (control) were compared using univariate and multivariable analyses. A subgroup analysis was performed on patients with coinfection, dividing them into early (infection within 7 days) and late (infection after 7 days) infection groups.
Results Two hundred and thirty-three patients (25.9%) had a bacterial or fungal coinfection. Vasopressor use (P<0.001) and severity of illness (higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III score, P=0.009) were risk factors for the development of a coinfection. Patients with coinfection had higher mortality and length of stay. Vasopressor and corticosteroid use and central line and foley catheter placement were risk factors for late infection (>7 days). There were high rates of drug-resistant infections.
Conclusions Critically ill patients with COVID-19 are at risk for both community-acquired and hospital-acquired infections throughout their hospitalization for COVID-19. It is important to consider the development of a coinfection in clinically worsening critically ill patients with COVID-19 and consider the likelihood of drug-resistance when choosing an empiric regimen.
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Methods This prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in the ICUs of two hospitals. In total, 52 consenting patients answered questionnaires regarding their previous night’s sleep (K-RCSQ) and the noise they experienced (range, 0–100).
Results The K-RCSQ showed excellent internal consistency of 0.960 by Cronbach’s alpha. The mean total score of the K-RCSQ was 41.9±28.9 (range, 0–100). The mean perceived ICU noise score was 40.7±28.1 (range, 0–90). There was a significant linear correlation between noise score and average K-RCSQ score (r=–0.37, P<0.001).
Conclusions The K-RCSQ demonstrated excellent reliability (internal consistency). This simple tool may help assess sleep quality in critically ill patients and improve the quality of ICU care.
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BACKGROUND ASV is a closed-loop ventilation system that guarantees a user-set minimum per-minute volume in intubated patients, whether paralyzed or with spontaneous breathing.
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Patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may require mechanical ventilation following cardiac or general surgery, in connection with thoracic surgery such as lobectomy, wedge resection, lung reduction or bullectomy, during an episode of acute respiratory failure (ARF) secondary to a disease other than COPD such as sepsis, drug overdose, or trauma or for acute-on-chronic respiratory failure (the COPD exacerbation) where acute illness, usually presumed to be infectious in nature, destabilizes the characteristically compensated state. Ventilatory intervention is often life-saving when patients with asthma or COPD experience acute respiratory compromise. Although both noninvasive and invasive ventilation methods may be viable initial choice, which is better depends upon the severity of illness, the rapidity of response, coexisting disease, and capacity of the medical environment. In addition, noninvasive ventilation often relieves dyspnea and hypoxemia in patients with stable severe COPD. This review will only briefly cover noninvasive ventilation and focus primarily on the management of the intubated, mechanically ventilated patient with COPD, with particular emphasis on factors unique to this patient population such as the propensity for dynamic hyperinflation and auto-PEEP, barotrauma, difficult weaning and the prognosis following mechanical ventilation.
Because inhaled nitric oxide (NO) induces selective vasodilation of well-ventilated lung regions diverting pulmonary artery blood flow towards these well-ventilated alveoli, it has been applied to some of ARDS patients, who show severe hypoxemia despite of positive pressure ventilation with moderate to high positive end-expiratory pressure. The beneficial effect of inhaled NO on oxygenation was lower than 5 ppm of inhaled NO and the maximum effect was about 10 ppm in patients with ARDS according to the studies. Combinations of inhaled NO with various therapies, such as the use of intravenous almitrine or phenylephrine, and prone positioning may produce additive effects on oxygenation. Approximately 65% of patients had response to inhaled NO in studies of critically ill patients with ARDS who were ventilated with less than 40 ppm of inhaled NO.
However, there was no survival benefit by inhaled NO in a multicenter phase 2 trial with 177 patients of non-septic ARDS. It is unclear whether inhaled NO exerts detrimental or beneficial effects in the pathogenesis of ARDS. Laboratory studies suggest that inhaled NO has important effects in reducing some forms of lung and tissue injury. If these effects are clinically significant, early and continued therapy with inhaled NO could potentially reduce the severity of some forms of lung injury. In contrast, NO and nitrite interacted with neutrophil myeloperoxidase to stimulate oxidative reactions during inflammation. In summary, NO inhalation would be acceptable as a rescue therapy in severe ARDS without serious complications related to the application. In addition, the effect of inhaled NO on the pathophysiology of ARDS should be elucidated.