Acute and Critical Care

Original Article

Thoracic Surgery
Outcome of External Ventricular Drainage according to the Operating Place: the Intensive Care Unit versus Operating Room: Si On Kim, Won Jun Song, Yu Sam Won, Jae Young Yang, Chun Sik Choi; Korean J Crit Care Med. 2016;31(1):10-16. Published online February 29, 2016; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4266/kjccm.2016.31.1.10

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Abstract PDF: Background:
External ventricular drainage (EVD) is an important procedure for draining excessive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and monitoring intracranial pressure. Generally, EVD is performed in the operating room (OR) under aseptic conditions. However, in emergency circumstances, the operation may be performed in the intensive care unit (ICU) to save neuro-critical time and to avoid the unnecessary transfer of patients. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the risk of EVD-induced CNS infections and their outcomes according to the operating place (ICU versus OR). In addition, we compared mortalities as well as hospital and ICU days between the CNS infection and non-CNS infection groups.
Methods
We reviewed medical records, laboratory data and radiographic images of patients who had received EVD operations between January, 2013 and March, 2015.
Results
A total of 75 patients (45 men and 30 women, mean age: 58.7 ± 15.6 years) were enrolled in this study. An average of 1.4 catheters were used for each patient and the mean period of the indwelling catheter was 7.5 ± 5.0 days. Twenty-six patients were included in the ICU group, and EVD-induced CNS infection had occurred in 3 (11.5%) patients. For the OR group, forty-nine patients were included and EVD-induced CNS infection had occurred in 7 (14.3%) patients. The EVD-induced CNS infection of the ICU group did not increase above that of the OR group. The ICU days and mortality rate were higher in the CNS infection group compared to the non-CNS infection group. The period of the indwelling EVD catheter and the number of inserted EVD catheters were both higher in the CNS infection group.
Conclusions
If the aseptic protocols and barrier precautions are strictly kept, EVD in the ICU does not have a higher risk of CNS infections compared to the OR. In addition, EVD in the ICU can decrease the hospital and ICU days by saving neuro-critical time and avoiding the unnecessary transfer of patients. Therefore, when neurosurgeons decide upon the operating place for EVD, they should consider the benefits of ICU operation and be cautious of EVD-induced CNS infection.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Central Venous Catheter-related Infection in Major Burn Patients: Comparison of Subclavian Vein and Femoral Vein: Young Ho Jang, Yong Hoon Son, Sang Kyu Kim, Joon Mo Park, Mi Young Lee, Jin Mo Kim; Korean J Crit Care Med. 2011;26(4):245-249.; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4266/kjccm.2011.26.4.245

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1 Crossref

BACKGROUND
A central venous catheter (CVC) is usually inserted in patients with severe burns and the selection of the CVC is often difficult due to widespread burned skin. We investigated the incidences of colonization and catheter-related blood stream infection (CRBSI) according to the insertion site of the CVC in major burn patients METHODS: In 63 adult massive burn patients in the intensive care unit, 93 CVCs (47 polyurethane standard CVCs and 46 Oligon anti-mocrobial CVCs) were randomly inserted via the subclavian vein (SCV group, n = 66) or femoral vein (FEV group, n = 27). All catheter tips removed were routinely cultured. Bacterial findings from the burn wound and peripheral blood were also monitored in all patients RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the average insertion length of the CVC (14.3 +/- 6.8 days in SCV and 13.6 +/- 3.8 days in FEV) between the two groups. There were no significant differences in CVC colonization (48.5% in SCV and 63.0% in FEV) and CRBSI (7.6% in SCV and 11.1% in FEV) between the two groups. Logistic analysis found that the use of polyurethane standard CVC is significantly associated with increased risk of CVC colonization (odds ratio = 2.68) CONCLUSIONS: The placement of the CVC via the femoral vein does not increase the incidence of CVC colonization in massive burn patients. The use of Oligon anti-microbial CVC may be helpful to reduce CVC colonization in major burn patients.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

An Ounce of Prevention Saves Tons of Lives: Infection in Burns
Nishant Merchant, Karen Smith, Marc G. Jeschke
Surgical Infections.2015; 16(4): 380. CrossRef

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