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Objectives: To assess the feasibility and satety ot a conservative approach to oxygen therapy in mechanically ventilated ICU patients. Design: Pilot prospective before-and-after study. Setting: A 22-bed multidisciplinary ICU of a tertiary care hospital in Australia. Patients: A total of 105 adult (18 years old or older) patients required mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours: 51 patients during the "conventional" before period and 54 after a change to "conservative" oxygen therapy. Interventions: Implementation of a conservative approach to oxygen therapy (target Spo2 of 90-92%). Measurements and Main Results: We collected 3,169 datasets on 799 mechanical ventilation days. During conservative oxygen therapy the median time-weighted average Spo2 on mechanical ventilation was 95.5% (interquartile range, 94.0-97.3) versus 98.4% (973-99.1) (p< 0.001) during conventional therapy. The median Pao2 was 83 torr (71-94) versus 107 torr (94-131) (p < 0.001) with a change to a median Fio2 of 0.27 (0.24-0.30) versus 0.40 (0.35-0.44) (p < 0.001). Conservative oxygen therapy decreased the median total amount of oxygen delivered during mechanical ventilation by about two thirds (15,580 L [8,263-29,351 L] vs 5,1 22L [1,837-10,499 L]; p < 0.001). The evolution of the Pao2/Fio2 ratio was similar during the two periods, and there were no difference in any other biochemical or clinical outcomes. Conclusions: Conservative oxygen therapy in mechanically ventilated ICU patients was feasible and free of adverse biochemical, physiological, or clinical outcomes while allowing a marked decrease in excess oxygen exposure. Cur study supports the safety and feasibility of future pilot randomized controlled trials of conventional compared with conservative oxygen therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Most centres in Europe have not introduced a rapid response team (RRT), partly because of concerns that data from other health-care systems may not be relevant. We tested whether patient characteristics and outcomes for deteriorating patients differ between two health-care systems separated by distance and culture. Methods: We obtained data from 3,063 RRT calls: 815 calls at Karolinska University Hospital (Sweden) and 2,248 calls at Austin Hospital (Australia) and compared demographic and clinical data, as well as outcomes for patients reviewed by a RRT. Results: At Karolinska, 46.9% of patients were female compared with 45.1% at Austin. Mean age was 66.5 years versus 69.4 years. The unit of admission was surgical/medical in 49.1%/50.9% versus 48.8%/51.1% of patients, respectively. Overall, 56.7% versus 55.8% of the calls were out-of-hours (1700-0800 hours). There was a predominance of respiratory triggers at both centres and the 'worried' criterion was frequently used in both hospitals (17.2% versus 14.4%) as a trigger for RRT activation. Overall, 30-day mortality was 27.7% versus 29.4% and allocation of Limitations of Medical Treatment (LOMT) orders was 34.2% versus 30.8%. The allocation of LOMT orders was influenced by the RRT in 14.4% versus 12.6% of cases. Conclusion: In two different health-care systems separated by geography, language, culture and organizational features, the characteristics of deteriorating ward patients, their disposal and outcomes were similar, suggesting that the care of the deteriorating ward patient is a global problem in modern hospitals and confirming that their hospital mortality is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the case of a 32-year-old man who was taken to the Austin Hospital in Victoria because of the progression of multiple complications of long-term parenteral nutrition for short gut syndrome. His medical history revealed bowel dysfunction since birth, and prerenal renal dysfunction. He underwent combined liver and intestinal transplantation that lasted 13.5 hours. After two years, he recovered and has improved quality of life and psychological well-being.