Characteristics of Decision Regret in the PICU
This Concise Critical Appraisal discusses a recent study identifying conditions associated with parents’ decision regret after their critically ...
Euglycemic Versus Hyperglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Patients taking SGLT2 inhibitors are at increased risk for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Clinicians often miss the diagnosis of DKA when blood glucose ...
Choice Framing in Family Meetings
This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a study that reviewed transcripts from family meetings in the ICU to determine how clinicians use choice fram...
Breathing Easier: Evolving Strategies in Ventilator Liberation Guidelines
This Concise Critical Appraisal discusses the major changes to the ventilator liberation guidelines, including completing spontaneous breathing trials...
Utility of Endovascular Thrombectomy in Patients With Large Infarct Cores
This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a study that evaluated the clinical outcomes of patients with large infarct cores and Alberta Stroke Program ...
Timing of Antibiotics in Septic Patients With Septic Arthritis
When should antibiotics be administered in septic patients with septic arthritis? This Concise Critical Appraisal reviews a recent study that sought t...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Prehospital Transfusions and Mortality in Pediatric Trauma
Is prehospital transfusion associated with better outcomes in pediatric trauma? This Concise Critical Appraisal reviews a retrospective study of child...
RSV Vaccination in Adults May Curtail Morbidity and Mortality
This Concise Critical Appraisal delves into the impact of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and explores a recent trial that led to U.S. Food and Drug...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Hydrocortisone and Fludrocortisone Versus Hydrocortisone Only
Is hydrocortisone for septic shock best used alone or in combination with fludrocortisone? This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a retrospective co...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Endothelial Glycocalyx Integrity and Fluid Bolus Types
Is there an association between balanced versus unbalanced fluids and endothelial glycocalyx integrity in children with sepsis? This Concise Critical ...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Artificial Intelligence and the ICU Patient
With the advancement and increasing popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, researchers have begun studying how to apply the technical cap...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Timing of Prone Positioning During Venovenous ECMO for ARDS
This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a meta-analysis showing that prone positioning is beneficial for patients meeting criteria for venovenous ext...
Fluid Accumulations and Adverse Outcomes in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients
Is there an association between fluid accumulation (FA) and adverse outcomes in critically ill pediatric patients, and is there a threshold FA associa...
Early Mobilization During Mechanical Ventilation: Pain With No Gain
Early active mobilization has been shown to mitigate ICU-acquired weakness, reduce disability and, most importantly, reduce mortality. This Concise Cr...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Impact of a Machine Learning Early Warning Score on Hospital Mortality
Common causes of death in hospitals, such as sepsis and respiratory failure, are treatable and benefit from early intervention. Machine learning algor...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Professional Development Despite ICU Burnout and Staff Shortages
This Concise Critical Appraisal describes two articles that illuminate the associations among the COVID-19 pandemic, clinician well-being, and burnout...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Arginine Therapy in Hospitalized Children With Sickle Cell Anemia
Can arginine supplements improve the hemodynamics of children with severe pain or acute chest syndrome (ACS) related to sickle cell anemia? Although m...
Concise Critical Appraisal: COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Burnout Critical Care Professions Differently
The COVID-19 pandemic created a new challenging environment in which healthcare workers must survive. Before the pandemic, healthcare workers experien...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Continued Rise of Venous Thromboembolism Across US Children’s Hospitals
Has the rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in children changed over time? A 2009 study reported a 70% increase in VTE in acutely and chronically ill...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Temperature Management After Cardiac Arrest
Recently published guidelines have replaced the recommendations on temperature management after cardiac arrest included in the 2021 post-resuscitation...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Quality Improvement Intervention on Sleep and Delirium
Does your hospital use a checklist or bundle to minimize risk factors for delirium? Delirium is common in surgical and medical intensive care units (I...
Increased Mental Disorder Diagnoses in Children After Invasive Mechanical Ventilation
This Concise Critical Appraisal highlights an article in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine that sought to determine the association between in...
Effect of Bougie Versus Endotracheal Tube With Stylet on Successful Tracheal Intubation
Tracheal intubation is a high-risk procedure that is frequently performed in the emergency department and intensive care unit. Failure of first-pass s...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Vasopressin and Methylprednisolone for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Although several trials have examined in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), only two trials in the past decade have examined the use of vasopressin and g...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Rapid Implementation of an Intensivist-Led VV ECMO Cannulation Program
This Concise Critical Appraisal explores an article published in Critical Care Medicine on a program at Cooper University Hospital in Camden,...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Epinephrine Dosing Intervals on Outcomes From Pediatric In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
The average annual incidence of pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) has recently been estimated at more than 15,000 cases. Survival rates for ...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Awake Prone Positioning For COVID-19 Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure
This Concise Critical Appraisal explores an article in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine that evaluated the efficacy of awake prone positioning t...
Updated Guidelines on Management of Clostridioides difficile Infection in Adults
Clostrididioides difficile infection (CDI) occurs in about 4% of ICU patients, causing fulminant colitis and death in nearly 60% of symptomatic critic...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Improving Training for Invasive Bedside Procedures
Invasive bedside procedures (IBPs) require a high degree of familiarity and skillful expertise. Yet effective and thorough bedside training can be hap...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Cardiac Ultrasound in Pediatric Septic Shock Assessment
How can clinical information gleaned from focused cardiac ultrasound (FCU) be used to augment clinical assessments in children with suspected septic s...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Development of the CCEeXAM
Bedside echocardiography has become increasingly widespread among physicians caring for critically ill patients. The Examination of Special Competence...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 Guidelines Update
The updated Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) COVID-19 guidelines are now available, reflecting the learnings from the latest major studies. This month&...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Asynchronous and Distance Learning in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond
The medical community has faced many challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including ensuring continued medical education in the face of so...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Early Hemostatic Management of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy
This Concise Critical Appraisal delves into a study published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine that sought to determine whether early hemost...
Concise Critical Appraisal: ARREST Trial: ECMO Versus Advanced Cardiac Life Support
The ARREST Trial compared extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-facilitated resuscitation to advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) treatment in pa...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Is CPR Futile for COVID-19 Patients?
Is cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) futile in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 experiencing cardiac arrest? A study recently published in Cri...
Impact of Rapid Exome Sequencing on Management of Critically Ill Children
Dive into a study that evaluates a standardized process of using rapid exome sequencing to help diagnose critically ill children with suspected geneti...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Dexamethasone Use in the Treatment of COVID-19
This Concise Critical Appraisal offers a look into the results of the RECOVERY trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which de...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Early Use of Tranexamic Acid in the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Bleeds
This Concise Critical Appraisal offers a deep dive into the HALT-IT trial, which investigated whether early use of tranexamic acid to treat acute seve...
Concise Critical Appraisal: PERSEVERE Biomarkers in Predicting AKI in Pediatric Septic Shock
Can the biomarkers identified in the Pediatric Sepsis Biomarker Risk Model (PERSEVERE II) be used to predict acute kidney injury and renal recovery in...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Planning and Provision of ECMO for Severe ARDS From COVID-19
This Concise Critical Appraisal explores a Lancet Respiratory Medicine article by Ramanathan et al, which outlines how to plan for extracorpo...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Use of Early Versus Late Enteral Nutrition in Critically Ill Children
What is the benefit of early versus late nutrition in critically ill children? In this Concise Critical Appraisal, Daniel E. Sloniewsky, MD, FCCM, off...
Concise Critical Appraisal: Dexamethasone Use in the Treatment of ARDs
Villar et al (Lancet Respir Med. 2020;8:267-276) attempted to demonstrate the effect...
Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Cardiac Arrest
Does extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (eCPR) improve survival rates? This Concise Critical Appraisal reviews a study that sought to determ...
Appropriate Antibiotic Delay in Bloodstream Infections: How Long Is Too Long?
Does delaying antibiotic treatment in patients with bloodstream infections have an effect on mortality? This Concise Critical Appraisal reviews a stud...
Mechanical Circulatory Support With ECPR
Does adding mechanical circulatory support to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) lead to better outcomes than ECMO alone? This Concise Critica...
Fluid Resuscitation in Children With Acute Kidney Injury
Should critically injured children receive balanced crystalloid (BC) solutions or normal saline (NS) during fluid resuscitation? This Concise Critical...
The Impact of Blood Culture Positivity on Community-Acquired Sepsis
This Concise Critical Appraisal delves into the impact of blood culture positivity on community-acquired sepsis and evaluates the epidemiology, resist...
Critically Ill Children and the ICU Liberation Bundle
Does use of the ICU Liberation Bundle (A-F) improve outcomes in critically ill children? Explore the first multicenter report on the impact of the ent...