Background & aims:  Low muscle mass and -quality on ICU admission, as assessed by muscle area and -density on CT-scanning at lumbar level 3 (L3), are associated with increased mortality. However, CT-scan analysis is not feasible for standard care. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) assesses body …

BACKGROUND: Early mobilization has been proven effective for patients in intensive care units (ICUs) to improve functional recovery. However, early mobilization of critically ill, often mechanically ventilated, patients is cumbersome because of the attachment to tubes, drains, monitoring devices and …

BACKGROUND: The number of intensive care patients aged ≥ 80 years (Very old Intensive Care Patients; VIPs) is growing. VIPs have high mortality and morbidity and the benefits of ICU admission are frequently questioned. Sepsis incidence has risen in recent years and identification of outcomes is of considerable …

BACKGROUND: Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are daunting environments for physiotherapy (PT) students performing clinical rotations. To prepare students for this environment, a newly developed, evidence-based e-learning module was designed and implemented in the undergraduate curriculum. The aim of this …

Purpose Half of the patients experience pain during their ICU stay which is known to influence their outcomes. Nurses and physicians encounter organizational barriers towards pain assessment and treatment. We aimed to evaluate the association between adequate pain management and nurse to patient ratio, …

Introduction: Few data described practicalities of using mechanical insufflation-exsufflation (MI-E) for invasively ventilated ICU patients and evidence for benefit of their use is lacking. Aim and objective: To identify barriers and facilitators to use MI-E devices in invasively ventilated ICU patients, …

PURPOSE: To assess the association of clinical variables and the development of specified chronic conditions in ICU survivors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study, combining a national health insurance claims database and a national quality registry for ICUs. Claims data from 2012 to …

BACKGROUND: In critically ill patients, auscultation might be challenging as dorsal lung fields are difficult to reach in supine-positioned patients, and the environment is often noisy. In recent years, clinicians have started to consider lung ultrasound as a useful diagnostic tool for a variety of pulmonary …

PURPOSE: Premorbid conditions affect prognosis of acutely-ill aged patients. Several lines of evidence suggest geriatric syndromes need to be assessed but little is known on their relative effect on the 30-day survival after ICU admission. The primary aim of this study was to describe the prevalence …