Pulmonary Artery Catheter
Pulmonary Artery Catheter aka Swan-Ganz catheter (or 'the yellow snake'); continuous cardiac output monitoring; pulmonary artery pressure and more...
Lactate Clearance versus ScvO2 Monitoring in Severe Sepsis
Resuscitation targets in severe sepsis include: preload, e.g. CVP; afterload, e.g. MAP; tissue oxygen delivery; end point controversial: ScvO2 vs lactate clearance
Procalcitonin
Procalcitonin is the propeptide of calcitonin, a 116-peptide molecule with a molecular weight of 13 kDa. Procalcitonin has been studied as a sepsis biomarker, to help with diagnosing/ ruling out sepsis and to guide the initiation and cessation of antibiotics
Enteral Nutrition vs Parenteral Nutrition
Enteral Nutrition vs Parenteral Nutrition: controversial issue; at present best recommendations are to optimize oral/enteral nutrition, avoid forced starvation if at all possible, and judiciously use supplemental parenteral nutrition.
Folate Deficiency
Folate Deficiency: 500-20,000 mcg stored in body; required 50-100mcg/day; required for DNA, RNA and protein synthesis (purine, thymidine and amino acid synthesis)
Glucose Control in the Critically Ill
Routine management in ICU involves avoiding complications of hyperglycaemia (infections) and hypoglycaemia (arrhythmias, neurological damage, cardiac events). Traditional goals have varied
Immunonutrition
Immunonutrition involves feeding (enteral or TPN) enriched with various nutrients (arginine, glutamine, omega-3-fatty acids, nucleotides and anti-oxidants: copper, selenium, zinc, vitamins B, C and E) to improve immune responses and modulate inflammatory responses
Indirect Calorimetry and Metabolic Cart
Indirect calorimetry is a technique that measures inspired and expired gas flows, volumes and concentrations of O2 and CO2. The equipment used is also known as a metabolic cart
Intolerance to Enteral Nutrition
OVERVIEW CAUSES Patient Mechanical Drugs ASSESSMENT History Examination Investigations MANAGEMENT General approach Approach to gastric residual volumes >500mL q6h References and Links LITFL Journal articles
Nasogastric tube vs PEG vs Jejunostomy
Nasogastric tube vs Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) vs Jejunostomy
Nutrition Literature Summaries
summaries of key studies from the intensive care nutrition literature
Nutritional Assessment in the Critically Ill
Nutritional Assessment in Critical Illness: poor nutritional state is a common feature of critically ill patients, either pre-existing or as a result of the illness