Journal of Intensive Care Medicine

To illustrate the complexities of assessing the influence of individual organizational factors on outcomes for intensive care unit (ICU) patients in Canada.

In this cross-sectional study, we used retrospectively collected data from all patients admitted to all ICUs in British Columbia between April 01, 1994, and March 31, 1999, or to 20 ICUs in Ontario during 2002. We used responses to a survey about organizational factors for all ICUs in British Columbia and Ontario that was done in 2001. Clustered data regression models were used to assess the influence of organizational factors on outcomes after adjustment for patient-level confounders.

Despite adjustment for age, sex, comorbidity score of patients, and limitation of the data sets to minimize confounding, we found variable relationships between ICU outcomes (hospital mortality, ICU length of stay, and hospital length of stay) and any of “closed” administrative model, daily rounds, presence of an ICU medical director, medical director trained in critical care medicine, presence of a nurse leader in the ICU, nurse–patient ratio, and presence of an ICU pharmacist. Closed administrative model was associated with lower hospital mortality (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.75 [0.66-0.85]), shorter length of ICU stay (rate ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.76 [0.62-0.92]), and shorter length of hospital stay (rate ratio [5% confidence interval]: 0.78 [0.72-0.84]) in nontertiary ICUs but many other “advantageous” factors were associated with higher mortality.

The lack of a consistent relationship between organizational factors and ICU outcomes, and relationships that show increased mortality associated with some advantageous factors, suggests that there is residual confounding in these relationships. Models that adjust for only conventional patient-level confounders are unlikely to provide valid estimates of the influence of organizational factors.

To determine whether variability of coarsely sampled heart rate and blood pressure early in the course of severe sepsis and septic shock predicts successful resuscitation, defined as vasopressor independence at 24 hours after admission.

In an observational study of patients admitted with severe sepsis or septic shock from 2009 to 2011 to either of 2 intensive care units (ICUs) at a tertiary-care hospital, in whom blood pressure was measured via an arterial catheter, we sampled heart rate and blood pressure every 30 seconds over the first 6 hours of ICU admission and calculated the coefficient of variability of those measurements. Primary outcome was vasopressor independence at 24 hours; and secondary outcome was 28-day mortality.

We studied 165 patients, of which 97 (59%) achieved vasopressor independence at 24 hours. Overall, 28-day mortality was 15%. Significant predictors of vasopressor independence at 24 hours included the coefficient of variation of heart rate, age, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, the number of increases in vasopressor dose, mean vasopressin dose, mean blood pressure, and time–pressure integral of mean blood pressure less than 60 mm Hg. Lower sampling frequencies (up to once every 5 minutes) did not affect the findings.

Increased variability of coarsely sampled heart rate was associated with vasopressor independence at 24 hours after controlling for possible confounders. Sampling frequencies of once in 5 minutes may be similar to once in 30 seconds.

End-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO₂) measurements during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) reflect variable cardiac output over time, and low values have been associated with decreased survival. The goals of this review are to confirm and quantify this relationship and to determine the mean ETCO₂ value among patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) as an initial step toward determining an appropriate target for intervention during resuscitation in the absence of prospective data.

The PubMed database was searched for the key words “end-tidal carbon dioxide” or “capnometry” or “capnography” and “resuscitation” or “return of spontaneous circulation.” Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, or case–control studies that reported ETCO₂ values for participants with and without ROSC were included.

Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria for qualitative synthesis. Twenty studies were included in determination of average ETCO₂ values. The mean ETCO₂ in participants with ROSC was 25.8 ± 9.8 mm Hg versus 13.1 ± 8.2 mm Hg (P = .001) in those without ROSC. Nineteen studies were included in a meta-analysis. The mean difference in ETCO₂ was 12.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval: 10.3-15.1) between participants with and without ROSC (P < .001). The mean difference in ETCO₂ was not modified by the receipt of sodium bicarbonate, uncontrolled minute ventilation, or era of resuscitation guidelines. The overall quality of data by Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria is very low, but no prospective data are currently available.

Participants with ROSC after CPR have statistically higher levels of ETCO₂. The average ETCO₂ level of 25 mm Hg in participants with ROSC is notably higher than the threshold of 10 to 20 mm Hg to improve delivery of chest compressions. The ETCO₂ goals during resuscitation may be higher than previously suggested and further investigation into appropriate targets during resuscitation is needed to diminish morbidity and mortality after cardiorespiratory arrest.

To evaluate the frequency, characteristics, and outcomes of ethics consultations in critically ill patients with cancer.

This is a retrospective analysis of all adult patients with cancer who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a comprehensive cancer center and had an ethics consultation between September 2007 and December 2011. Demographic and clinical variables were abstracted along with the details and contexts of the ethics consultations.

Ethics consultations were obtained on 53 patients (representing 1% of all ICU admissions). The majority (90%) of patients had advanced-stage malignancies, had received oncologic therapies within the past 12 months, and required mechanical ventilation and/or vasopressor therapy for respiratory failure and/or severe sepsis. Two-thirds of the patients lacked decision-making capacity and nearly all had surrogates. The most common reasons for ethics consultations were disagreements between the patients/surrogates and the ICU team regarding end-of-life care. After ethics consultations, the surrogates agreed with the recommendations made by the ICU team on the goals of care in 85% of patients. Moreover, ethics consultations facilitated the provision of palliative medicine and chaplaincy services to several patients who did not have these services offered to them prior to the ethics consultations.

Our study showed that ethics consultations were helpful in resolving seemingly irreconcilable differences between the ICU team and the patients’ surrogates in the majority of cases. Additionally, these consultations identified the need for an increased provision of palliative care and chaplaincy visits for patients and their surrogates at the end of life.