International Journal of Critical Illness and Injury Science

BACKGROUND: Accurately monitoring blood glucose levels is vital for critically ill individuals. Point-of-care (POC) glucose meters are commonly used in local intensive care units (ICUs). This study aimed to assess the precision of POC glucose meter readings in critically ill individuals with specific evaluation in patients with and without shock against the reference standard of venous blood glucose measurements. METHODS: An observational study was done on adult patients admitted in the ICU at a teaching institution...

BACKGROUND: Viscoelastic tests are now routinely used for coagulopathy correction in patients with cirrhosis. Thromboelastography (TEG® ) and rotational thromboelastometry (RoTEM®) are the most widely studied tests in this population. However, they have not been compared with each other in critically ill patients with liver disease presenting with nonvariceal bleed. Hence, we aimed to compare these tests for coagulopathy correction in patients with liver disease presenting with nonvariceal bleeding...

Elizabethkingia spp . is a rare catalase and oxidase positive nonfermenting, Gram-negative Bacillus that has traditionally been linked to an array of illnesses in immunocompromised individuals. This case series reports seven cases of Elizabethkingia meningoseptica infections from a tertiary care teaching hospital. The subjects ranged in age from 23 to 75 years. Associated risk factors included a recent history of surgery, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, use of mechanical ventilation, and presence of an indwelling central line...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Walking is a fundamental physical activity with significant health implications. Backward gait training (BGT) has emerged as a novel approach with potential benefits, yet its effects in comparison to traditional forward gait training (FGT) remain uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of BGT on body composition, cardiopulmonary fitness, and inflammatory and metabolic markers in adults. A comprehensive search across electronic databases was conducted following the Preferred Publishing Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines...

BACKGROUND: Many protocols for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been published. In addition to an abundance of studies and meta-analyses on the treatment of COVID-19, different medications used in the intensive care unit will have a significant impact on mortality. The study attempted to highlight, compare, and quantify the impact on outcomes. METHODS: Data were collected from subjects' files, encompassing all physiological parameters, hematological profiles, and available laboratory results...

BACKGROUND: The 2021 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines recommend the use of hydrocortisone in patients who remain hemodynamically unstable despite adequate fluid resuscitation and vasopressor therapy. Fludrocortisone has been used concomitantly with hydrocortisone in some studies without a clearly defined role or known clinical benefit. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of fludrocortisone added to hydrocortisone on shock-free days for septic shock. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective propensity score-weighted study was conducted to compare hydrocortisone versus hydrocortisone plus fludrocortisone for septic shock...

BACKGROUND: This study aims to determine the prevalence of secondary bacterial infections (SBIs) in hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) subjects and evaluate their antibiotic susceptibility. The study also sought to identify risk factors for the outcome of SBIs in COVID-19 subjects. METHODS: This single-center cross-sectional retrospective study was carried out at Sohar Hospital in Oman. The study examined hospitalized COVID-19 subjects diagnosed with SBIs during March 2020-December 2022...

BACKGROUND: There are several approaches for lumbar fusion, although there is yet to be a consensus on which approach is the best. This study aimed to evaluate the intraoperative blood loss and acute postoperative pain in single-level mini-open oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) versus open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgeries for the degenerative spine. METHODS: Thirty-two patients were assigned by the surgeon to OLIF or TLIF groups - 16 in mini-open OLIF and 16 in open TLIF groups...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonitis may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring endotracheal intubation and prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV). There are limited data on the optimum time of tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients progressing to ARDS. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study of all patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who progressed to ARDS requiring MV and undergone tracheostomy...

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance is often implicated as a risk factor of cell-mediated immune dysfunction in sepsis patients and results in poor clinical outcome. However, it is unclear whether early insulin resistance is contributory to T-cell dysfunction and poor clinical outcome in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. METHODS: Adult patients with moderate-to-severe or critically ill COVID-19 infection were included in this study. Serum samples were collected at the time of diagnosis for fasting plasma glucose, serum insulin, serum cortisol, and serum glucagon measurements, and the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) score was calculated...

Wunderlich syndrome is characterized by the presence of abdominal pain, hematuria, and hypovolemic shock. We report a rare case of a 25-year-old pregnant woman, who came to the emergency department due to the sudden onset of low back pain and diaphoresis. The patient, during medical evaluation, experienced an altered state of consciousness. Diagnosed with hypovolemic shock, she was admitted to the operating room, where examination of the abdominal cavity revealed a left retroperitoneal hematoma. Damage control surgery was performed, but given the postoperative clinical deterioration, computerized tomography angiography of the abdomen was performed, showing a mass-like lesion arising from the upper pole of the left kidney, consistent with Wunderlich syndrome...

BACKGROUND: Globally, trauma cases have significant morbidity and mortality. Hence, various scoring systems have been designed to improve the prognosis in trauma cases. Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) is one of the widely used models to predict mortality; however, it has certain limitation. We have aimed to evaluate the survival prediction of new model TRISS-oxygen saturation (SpO2 ) and to compare with original TRISS score in trauma study participants. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study conducted on 380 trauma study participants admitted to the surgery department from January 20, 2021, to November 28, 2021...

BACKGROUND: Video laryngoscopes are commonly used along with Macintosh and McCoy laryngoscopes for Nasotracheal intubation (NTI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of McCoy, Macintosh, and Truview laryngoscopes during bougie-aided NTI with respect to intubation time, success rate, and hemodynamic changes during the procedure. METHODS: Forty-five American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-II adult patients, with Mallampati grade 1-4, requiring NTI, were enrolled after taking written informed consent...

A 34-year-old Sri Lankan man presented with multiple episodes of vomiting following accidental ingestion of 100 ml of indoxacarb (Avaunt). He had a significant saturation gap (discrepancy between oxygen saturation [98%] in blood gas analysis and saturation on pulse oximetry [70%] in finger pulse oximetry), the color of the blood was muddy brown, and the methemoglobin level (60%) was high in the blood gas analysis. A diagnosis of methemoglobinemia secondary to indoxacarb poisoning was made, and he was treated with methylene blue with a favorable outcome...

BACKGROUND: Multiple factors influence the fall risk in end-stage kidney disease. This study aims to investigate how medication factors influence the interpretation of fall risk due to age, gender, and years of dialysis treatment among patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2023 using the Johns Hopkins Fall Risk Assessment tool. Participants were recruited from the HD unit at a tertiary care academic medical center in Ajman, UAE...

BACKGROUND: Early rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is characterized by valve regurgitation, leading to ventricular distention and possible elaboration of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). METHODS: Thirty-one children with RHD were entered in the study. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed in all patients to assess the severity of the valve disease and cardiac function, thus will be classified into three groups: mild, moderate, and severe mitral valve regurgitation (MR), with and without left ventricular (LV) dilatation...

Metformin toxicity is a life-threatening condition with high morbidity and mortality. Toxicity predominantly occurs in the setting of acute renal dysfunction, as the drug is solely eliminated by the kidneys. While this risk is widely known to clinicians, diagnosing metformin toxicity is challenging because commercially available serum metformin levels require days to weeks to result. Therefore, the intensivist must rely on medical history, clinical presentation, and routine laboratory findings to make the preliminary diagnosis...

BACKGROUND: This study was done to compare single stage percutaneous dilation tracheostomy (PDT) and open surgical tracheostomy (ST) in critically ill patients. METHODS: A randomized controlled study was conducted on 60 critically ill patients admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU). The patients were randomized into ST or PDT group with 30 in each group. The duration of procedure and associated perioperative/postoperative complications were noted and compared...