Critical Care Commons^™

Malnutrition And A Rare Complication Of Gastric Bypass, Heather Kiskel, Mingran Yu

Tower Health Research Day

No abstract provided.

Aorto-Superior Vena Cava Fistula Secondary To Ascending Aortic Dissection, Talal Al-Assil, Aiden Michael Van Loo, Bakri Kaakeh, Bashar Al Jayyousi, Rania Esteitie

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Aortic fistulas are a rare condition that can be fatal if not detected early. They can occur spontaneously or after trauma or vascular procedures. The most common aortic fistulas occur with the esophagus, intestines, atrium, and bronchi. Aorto-superior vena cava (SVC) fistulas are exceedingly rare finding. We present a patient with a dissected aortic pseudoaneurysm complicated by an aorto-SVC fistula, leading to left-to-right shunting. This caused increased pulmonary blood flow, left ventricular volume overload, and eventual high-output heart failure. This is a unique case of an aorto-SVC fistula as a complication of subacute/chronic ascending aortic dissection in a patient who …

Evidence-Based Practice For Terminal Extubation: A Guideline Development For Critical Care, Heather Marica

Student Scholarly Projects

Practice Problem: In the critical care unit it was identified that providers utilized various practices in managing patients who were to be terminally extubated (TE). The variations in TE practice resulted in healthcare providers engaging in the TE process feeling unsure of the care they were providing and questioning if best practice measures were being implemented.

PICOT: The PICOT question guiding this project was: “In acute care adult patients who are to be TE (P), how does the development of an evidence-based TE guideline (I) compared to current TE practices (C) improve critical care healthcare workers perception and ability to …

A True Bloody Emergency: An Unusual Case Of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Joshua M. Ninan

Research Symposium

Background: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a primary thrombotic microangiopathy that is classically characterized by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA). Although rare with an annual incidence of 3.7 cases per one million adults, it is considered a true hematological emergency due to its fatality rate of almost 100% if appropriate treatment is not initiated immediately. This makes it vitally important to identify and treat patients with TTP, a task that becomes unusually challenging in the absence of the disorder’s other characteristically diagnostic clinical features such as mucosal bleeding, fever, or presence of schistocytes.

Case Presentation: A 30-year-old gentleman with …

Painting A Landscape Of Acute Care Nurse Scientist Work, Teresa Rangel

Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present

Background: Hospitals are increasingly hiring nurse scientists, motivated in part by nursing excellence designations such as Magnet. Magnet designation requires at least three, nurse-led, Institutional Review Board-approved research studies to be conducted in the hospital every four years and for nurses to be actively implementing evidence-based practice (EBP) projects using research evidence. However, clinical nurses often lack the specialized knowledge and training necessary to engage in well-designed research or EBP. Nurse scientists are PhD-prepared individuals with expertise to mentor clinical nurses to navigate the rigor and complexity of creating, implementing, analyzing, and disseminating research and EBP projects. Yet, due …

Acute Care Staff Interactions With Chaplains To Discuss Team Or Personal, Non-Work-Related Stressors, Gary Weisbrich, Sarah Sumner, Teresa Rangel

Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present

Background: Healthcare staff experience stress from the workplace when providing complex patient care and often may lean on specially trained spiritual support caregivers, or chaplains, for support navigating patient-related stressors. Yet, healthcare staff can also suffer from team-related or personal stressors that, if unresolved, could negatively impact care delivery. Little is known about whether, how often, and which staff may interact with chaplains for emotional support when experiencing non-patient-related stressors originating from work or personal lives.

Purpose: To describe the proportion of individuals who report discussing team-related or personal stressors with chaplains in the past 12 months, and to …

The Long-Term Economic Implications Of Burn Injury For Burn Survivors, Jacob M. Dougherty Bs, Hannan A. Maqsood Mbbs, Zhaohui Fan Md Mph, Stewart C. Wang Md Phd, Mark R. Hemmila Md, Naveen F. Sangji Md Mph

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: The long-term economic implications of burn injury on patients and payors has not been well described. Burn injury can be costly due to prolonged intensive care, wound care, rehabilitation, psychological care, and reconstructive surgery that may be required well after the initial injury. We investigated index and post-acute payor and out-of-pocket (OOP) costs related to burn injury for in-patient care at 30 days, and up to 36 months post-discharge to understand the long-term economic implications for burn survivors.

Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted using a commercial claims database from IBM Watson Health® Marketscan. Patients age ≤ …

Racial Disparities In Palliative Care Utilization In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Margaret S. Bove, Benjamin Huber, Myles Hardeman, Daniel Harris, Areeba Jawed, Amber Comer

Medical Student Research Symposium

BACKGROUND

Palliative care is a vital resource for the critically or terminally ill. It has myriad benefits such as improved quality of life, reduced depressive symptoms, and decreased scarce resource utilization. Self-identified Black/African patients, however, are less likely to utilize advanced care directives or engage in hospice/comfort care measures and are more likely to prefer intensive treatment at the end of life. There is no research, however, on how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected these trends.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study of patients who experienced in hospital mortality or in hospital hospice due to COVID-19 between March 2020 – …

An Educational Intervention Differentiating Pressure Injuries From End-Of-Life Wounds, Alicia Perez Varela, Annette Callis

Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present

Background

End-of-life (EOL) wounds are identified in the literature as Kennedy Terminal Ulcers (KTU), Skin Failure (SF), Trombley-Brennan Terminal Tissue Injury (TB-TTI), and SCALE (Skin Changes at Life’s End). EOL wounds have a similar appearance to pressure injuries (PIs) with a fundamentally different etiology. The misclassification of EOL wounds as PIs results in increased Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPI), hospital fines, and less-than-optimal EOL wound management.

Purpose

To examine the effectiveness of an educational intervention on EOL wounds in increasing nurse confidence in providing End-of-Life Care (EOLC) and differentiating PIs from EOL wounds.

Methods

This quasi-experimental study used the 28-item …

Management Of Sepsis With The Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, Jeanna Adams

Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present

Abstract

Background:

Sepsis can be a source of morbidity and mortality particularly when there are delays in treatment. Early identification may improve time to antimicrobial administration. The quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) is an evidence-based practice screening tool that, when in used in conjunction with the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) criteria can enhance recognition and treatment of sepsis. On a suburban Southern California hospital Neurological/Telemetry Unit the qSOFA is automatically calculated in the electronic medical record (EMR) but the bedside nurses were unaware of its availability and value. In addition, sepsis was not being identified in a timely …

An Evidence-Based Skin Management Improvement Project In The Intensive Care Unit, Chelsea Lannoo

Providence Nursing Research Conference 2023 – Present

Background:

Pressure injuries have detrimental effects on patients healing and outcomes and are costly to organizations due to payment programs. Pressure injuries are largely preventable if appropriate interventions are implemented early. In our ICU, post-pandemic monitoring showed increases in hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) and consults for medical device HAPIs were increasing. Rounds with wound care department indicated lack of staff compliance with recommended preventive practices. Some issues reported were the use of diapers and excessive linens, failure to use scheduled turning for patients, lack of prevention related to medical devices

Purpose:

The goal of this skin-care management project is …

Issue 7: Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider, Bharat Bajantri Md, Sarah Ellsworth-Hoffman Mls, Srinivasan Devanathan Md, Manuel Martinez Md

Critical Care & Pulmonary

Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider Issue 7

Compiled by Bharat Bajantri, MD, and librarian Sarah Ellsworth, MLS for the clinicians of the Pulmonary and Critical Care team of Parkview.

The Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider newsletter was created by Dr. Bharat Bajantri, MD and Sarah Ellsworth, MLS in 2023 as a form of current awareness for current practice at our hospital, Parkview Health. The content resides within critical care and pulmonary related topics and this information is compiled into four main formats.

1. Original Study Summaries: New research publications are read, reviewed, then concisely summarized for clinical interpretation with professional …

New Onset Positive Autoantibodies Following Covid-19 Infection, David Hernandez, Adnaan Sheikh, Shakira Laing, Mariana Adieb, Omar Siddiqui, Rohail Baig, Annabel Antonini, James Vienneau, Camden Burns

Advances in Clinical Medical Research and Healthcare Delivery

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Since the original outbreak in December 2019, over 100 million people have been confirmed to have been infected by COVID-19 and over two million people have died. The presentation seen in patients may vary widely based on multiple factors. Fever has been reported in up to 99% of patients, while other common symptoms seen are dyspnea, fatigue, anosmia, and myalgia. Around 80% of COVID-19 patients present with a mild respiratory illness that can be managed at home, while around 15% need basic …

Validation Of A Novel, Rapid Sepsis Diagnostic For Emergency Department Use, Hollis R. O'Neal, Roya Sheybani, David R. Janz, Robert Scoggins, Tonya Jagneaux, James E. Walker, Daniel J. Henning, Elizabeth Rosenman, Simon A. Mahler, Hariharan Regunath, Christopher S. Sampson, D. Clark Files, Richard D. Fremont, Michael J. Noto, Erica E. Schneider, Wesley R. Shealey, Matthew S. Berlinger, Thomas C. Carver, Morgan K. Walker, Nathan A. Ledeboer, Ajay M. Shah, Henry T.K. Tse, Dino Dicarlo, Todd W. Rice, Christopher B. Thomas

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: To assess the in vitro IntelliSep test, a microfluidic assay that quantifies the state of immune activation by evaluating the biophysical properties of leukocytes, as a rapid diagnostic for sepsis. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Five emergency departments (EDs) in Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, and Washington. PATIENTS: Adult patients presenting to the ED with signs (two of four Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome criteria, where one must be temperature or WBC count) or suspicion (provider-ordered culture) of infection. INTERVENTIONS: All patients underwent testing with the IntelliSep using ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid-anticoagulated whole blood followed by retrospective adjudication for sepsis by …

Improving Time To Defibrillation​, Jonathan Eyestone, Dana Gilbreth, Amanda Maloney, Tina Pham

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

"ABSTRACT TITLE: Improving Time to Defibrillation

Background: Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (PSVMC) Medical Surgical units are not meeting the American Heart Association requirement of less than 3 minutes to defibrillation. Time to defibrillation in codes with shockable rhythms averages 4.2 minutes. In Mock Codes, only one met the time less than 3 minutes; four Mock Codes had times over 5 minutes. Resuscitation Quality Improvement CPR (RQI) training is required quarterly. Defibrillator practice with overall Code Blue competency is annual.

Purpose: Combine the hands-on practice of the defibrillator with the hands-on training for RQI.

Methods: The Medical Surgical unit 6 …

Successful Hepatectomy, Anhepatic State, And Liver Transplant On Ecmo, Jenna Miller, Kari L. Davidson, Bhargava Mullapudi, Richard J. Hendrickson, Ryan T. Fischer, Lisa Conley, Wes Ware, Michelle Mckain, Tara Benton

Presentations

We discuss the case of a 13-month-old previously healthy male who presented with acute liver failure (ALF) of unknown etiology. He progressed to fulminant cardiopulmonary failure requiring mechanical ventilation and high dose inotropes with persistent lactate >20. He was cannulated to VA ECMO and tandem continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with single pass albumin dialysis (SPAD) and plasma exchange (PLEX) therapies. He required high dose inotropes on ECMO and had persistently elevated lactate despite maximal medical therapy. Limited imaging studies suggested cirrhotic liver and possible intestinal pneumatosis. Due to evidence of fulminant ALF and potential for a reversible process, he …

Whole Blood In Trauma, Jason P. Prevelige

Pacific Journal of Health

Abstract: Hemorrhage is a leading cause of death in trauma patients. Whole blood administration in trauma has gained a renewed interest in recent years, however the concept is not new at all, with its origins spanning over 100 years. Field experience in United States’ military conflicts has provided important data on the efficacy of whole blood in reducing mortality and amount of blood product administration. Civilian trials however have not necessarily shown similar results. The safety of whole blood however does not seem to be in question given the available data, and is an acceptable option for blood replacement in …

Evaluating The Effect Of Maternal Non-Communicable Disease On Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes And Birthweight In Pakistan, A Facility Based Retrospective Cohort Study, Esther Wainwright, Sheikh Irfan Ahmed, Rahat Qureshi, Sana Yousuf, Raheela Khan, Matthew Elmes

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) claim 74% of global lives, disproportionately affecting lower and middle-income countries like Pakistan. NCDs may increase the risk of preterm birth (PTB), caesarean section (CS), and low birthweight. This study aims to determine whether the high prevalence of NCDs in Pakistan play a role in the high rates of preterm births, and CS. This retrospective cohort study from Aga Khan University Hospital, Pakistan, investigated effects of pre-existing NCDs on pregnancy outcomes of 817 pregnant women. Medical records were used to generate odds ratios for the risk of PTB, labour outcome and birthweight in women with type 1 …

Prediction Of Major Adverse Cardiac Events In The Emergency Department Using An Artificial Neural Network With A Systematic Grid Search, Ahmed Raheem Buksh, Nadeem Ullah Khan, Rida Jawed, Shahan Waheed, Musa Karim

Department of Emergency Medicine

Background: The aim of our research was to design and evaluate an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model using a systemic grid search for the early prediction of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among patients presenting to the triage of an emergency department.
Methods: This is a single-center, cross-sectional study using electronic health records from January 2017 to December 2020. The research population consists of adults coming to our emergency department triage at Aga Khan University Hospital. The MACE during hospitalization was the main outcome. To enhance the architecture of an ANN using triage data, we used a systematic grid search …

Issue 6: Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider, Bharat Bajantri Md, Sarah Ellsworth-Hoffman Mls

Critical Care & Pulmonary

Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider Issue 6

Compiled by Bharat Bajantri, MD, and librarian Sarah Ellsworth, MLS for the clinicians of the Pulmonary and Critical Care team of Parkview.

The goal of this newsletter is to give a brief summary of the most pertinent articles to everyday practice and an attempt to keep up with literature as best as possible. Newsletters go out every 1-2 months.

Summaries/Topics in this issue:

Wasted Blood in Hospital Setting

Blood Transfusions

MINT Trial

Epinephrine related death

Non-invasive Airway Management of Comatose Poisoned Emergency Patients

Angiotensin II (AT2) and Vasopressors

Angiotensin II for the Treatment …