Abstract
Surgical intensive care consumes considerable facilities and the associated costs are high. The present study aimed at evaluating longterm outcome of patients treated due to abdominal sepsis in the surgical intensive care unit from January 1983 to December 1995 by a follow-up from June to August 1997 of patients surviving the hospital stay. The patients were interviewed by telephone and also completed a 'quality-of-life' form. Out of 210 patients (mean age 65 years) 151 survived the hospital stay. At follow-up, another 45 patients were deceased, 41 patients were not reached and another 17 patients declined to participate. Thus, the follow-up included 48 patients. At discharge from hospital, 54% of the patients returned directly home and 67% returned to their regular work after a median sick-leave of 10 weeks. When comparing a quality-of-life score, an impairment of median scores (P < 0.01) was found, although the patients subjectively appreciated quality of life not to have changed significantly, 49% claimed full recovery. Hospital mortality was 28% attributable to multiple organ dysfunction and total mortality over the time period was 50% and rarely associated with abdominal sepsis. Thus, recovery following abdominal sepsis treated in the surgical intensive care unit is good and motivates efforts performed during the acute phase.
Highlights
Ill patients requiring intensive care are at risk of iatrogenic ocular damage
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) management of critically ill patients often includes the requirement for tracheostomy and feeding access, most often a pecutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)
Percutaneous tracheostomy is performed routinely in many medical intensive care unit (ICU) settings, in high risk surgical and trauma patients who often have unstable cervical spine injury and tissue edema, direct visualization of the cervical structures and trachea is imperative during tracheostomy
Summary
Ill patients requiring intensive care are at risk of iatrogenic ocular damage. We designed an experimental situation where external cardiac pressure conditions were controlled and adjusted to physiological extremes to mimic clinically relevant situations, while cardiac performance was assessed using left ventricular pressure–volume relationships (LVPVR) which are relatively preload and afterload independent This prospective, controlled study was undertaken to evaluate the response to therapy aimed at achieving supranormal cardiac and oxygen transport values (cardiac index >4.5 l/min/m2, oxygen delivery >600 l/min/m2, and oxygen consumption >170 l/min/m2) in patients older than 60 or with previous severe cardiorespiratory illnesses, who have undergone elective extensive ablative surgery planned for carcinoma or abdominal aortic aneurism. Whilst some human studies conducted in the critically ill and in high risk surgical patients have suggested that dopexamine may cause an increase in tonometrically measured gastric intra-mucosal pH (pHi) and an improvement in clinical outcome, this has not been confirmed in other randomised trials. In the present study the association of platelet function to inflammatory markers indicating disease severity was investigated
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
