BACKGROUND:After critical illness, new or worsening impairments in physical, cognitive, and/or mental health function are common among patients who have survived. Who should be screened for long-term ...impairments, what tools to use, and when remain unclear.
OBJECTIVES:Provide pragmatic recommendations to clinicians caring for adult survivors of critical illness related to screening for postdischarge impairments.
PARTICIPANTS:Thirty-one international experts in risk-stratification and assessment of survivors of critical illness, including practitioners involved in the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Thrive Post-ICU Collaboratives, survivors of critical illness, and clinical researchers.
DESIGN:Society of Critical Care Medicine consensus conference on post-intensive care syndrome prediction and assessment, held in Dallas, in May 2019. A systematic search of PubMed and the Cochrane Library was conducted in 2018 and updated in 2019 to complete an original systematic review and to identify pre-existing systematic reviews.
MEETING OUTCOMES:We concluded that existing tools are insufficient to reliably predict post-intensive care syndrome. We identified factors before (e.g., frailty, preexisting functional impairments), during (e.g., duration of delirium, sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome), and after (e.g., early symptoms of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder) critical illness that can be used to identify patients at high-risk for cognitive, mental health, and physical impairments after critical illness in whom screening is recommended. We recommend serial assessments, beginning within 2–4 weeks of hospital discharge, using the following screening toolsMontreal Cognitive Assessment test; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; Impact of Event Scale-Revised (post-traumatic stress disorder); 6-minute walk; and/or the EuroQol-5D-5L, a health-related quality of life measure (physical function).
CONCLUSIONS:Beginning with an assessment of a patient’s pre-ICU functional abilities at ICU admission, clinicians have a care coordination strategy to identify and manage impairments across the continuum. As hospital discharge approaches, clinicians should use brief, standardized assessments and compare these results to patient’s pre-ICU functional abilities (“functional reconciliation”). We recommend serial assessments for post-intensive care syndrome-related problems continue within 2–4 weeks of hospital discharge, be prioritized among high-risk patients, using the identified screening tools to prompt referrals for services and/or more detailed assessments.
OBJECTIVES:To systematically review the symptoms and types of laryngeal injuries resulting from endotracheal intubation in mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU.
DATA SOURCES:PubMed, Embase, ...CINAHL, and Cochrane Library from database inception to September 2017.
STUDY SELECTION:Studies of adult patients who were endotracheally intubated with mechanical ventilation in the ICU and completed postextubation laryngeal examinations with either direct or indirect visualization.
DATA EXTRACTION:Independent, double-data extraction and risk of bias assessment followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Risk of bias assessment followed the Cochrane Collaboration’s criteria.
DATA SYNTHESIS:Nine studies (seven cohorts, two cross-sectional) representing 775 patients met eligibility criteria. The mean (SD; 95% CI) duration of intubation was 8.2 days (6.0 d; 7.7–8.7 d). A high prevalence (83%) of laryngeal injury was found. Many of these were mild injuries, although moderate to severe injuries occurred in 13–31% of patients across studies. The most frequently occurring clinical symptoms reported post extubation were dysphonia (76%), pain (76%), hoarseness (63%), and dysphagia (49%) across studies.
CONCLUSIONS:Laryngeal injury from intubation is common in the ICU setting. Guidelines for laryngeal assessment and postextubation surveillance do not exist. A systematic approach to more robust investigations could increase knowledge of the association between particular injuries and corresponding functional impairments, improving understanding of both time course and prognosis for resolution of injury. Our findings identify targets for future research and highlight the long-known, but understudied, clinical outcomes from endotracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation in ICU.
Nearly 60% of patients who are intubated in intensive care units (ICUs) experience dysphagia after extubation, and approximately 50% of them aspirate. Little is known about dysphagia recovery time ...after patients are discharged from the hospital.
To determine factors associated with recovery from dysphagia symptoms after hospital discharge for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) survivors who received oral intubation with mechanical ventilation.
This is a prospective, 5-year longitudinal cohort study involving 13 ICUs at four teaching hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland. The Sydney Swallowing Questionnaire (SSQ), a 17-item visual analog scale (range, 0-1,700), was used to quantify patient-perceived dysphagia symptoms at hospital discharge, and at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months after ARDS. An SSQ score greater than or equal to 200 was used to indicate clinically important dysphagia symptoms at the time of hospital discharge. Recovery was defined as an SSQ score less than 200, with a decrease from hospital discharge greater than or equal to 119, the reliable change index for SSQ score. Fine and Gray proportional subdistribution hazards regression analysis was used to evaluate patient and ICU variables associated with time to recovery accounting for the competing risk of death.
Thirty-seven (32%) of 115 patients had an SSQ score greater than or equal to 200 at hospital discharge; 3 died before recovery. All 34 remaining survivors recovered from dysphagia symptoms by 5-year follow-up, 7 (23%) after 6 months. ICU length of stay was independently associated with time to recovery, with a hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.96 (0.93-1.00) per day.
One-third of orally intubated ARDS survivors have dysphagia symptoms that persist beyond hospital discharge. Patients with a longer ICU length of stay have slower recovery from dysphagia symptoms and should be carefully considered for swallowing assessment to help prevent complications related to dysphagia.
ABSTRACTPostextubation dysphagia may impose a substantial burden on intensive care unit patients and healthcare systems. Approximately 517,000 patients survive mechanical ventilation during critical ...care annually. Reports of postextubation dysphagia prevalence are highly variable ranging between 3% and 93%. Of great concern is aspiration leading to the development of aspiration pneumonia when patients resume oral feeding. Screening for aspiration with a water swallow test has been reported to be positive for 12% of patients in the intensive care unit after extubation. This review aims to increase awareness of postextubation dysphagia and provide an updated overview of the current knowledge regarding prevalence, pathophysiology, diagnostic modalities, and treatment options.
Purpose of review Dysphagia and dysphonia are common presentations of both acute and long coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The majority of peer-reviewed publications in 2020 and early 2021 were ...expert guidance and consensus statements to support dysphagia management in multidisciplinary teams while protecting clinicians and patients from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. This review discusses dysphagia and dysphonia primary data published in 2021–2022, focusing on patient presentations, pathophysiology, and evidence for interventions. Recent findings Clinicians and researchers amassed knowledge of the cross-system presentation of dysphagia and dysphonia in patients with COVID-19, from severe disease requiring ICU stays to those with mild-to-moderate disease presenting to outpatient clinics. Pre-COVID-19 health status, hospitalization experience, presence of neurological symptoms, and impact of the virus to the upper aerodigestive and respiratory system need consideration in patient management. Long-term dysphagia and dysphonia manifested from COVID-19 require otolaryngologist and speech-language pathologist input. Summary Changes in immunity through population vaccination and variations in COVID-19 from SARS-CoV-2 mutations means prevalence data are challenging to interpret. However, there is no doubt of the presence of long-term dysphagia and dysphonia in our clinics. Long-term dysphagia and dysphonia are complex and a multidisciplinary team with a tailored approach for each patient is required.
Purpose As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, there has been growing recognition of risks to frontline health care workers. When caring for patients with tracheostomy, speech-language pathologists ...have significant exposure to mucosal surfaces, secretions, and aerosols that may harbor the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This tutorial provides guidance on practices for safely performing patient evaluation and procedures, thereby reducing risk of infection. Method Data were collated through review of literature, guidelines, and consensus statements relating to COVID-19 and similar high-consequent infections, with a focus on mitigating risk of transmission to health care workers. Particular emphasis was placed on speech-language pathologists, nurses, and other allied health professionals. A multinational interdisciplinary team then analyzed findings, arriving at recommendations through consensus via electronic communications and video conference. Results Reports of transmission of infection to health care workers in the current COVID-19 pandemic and previous outbreaks substantiate the need for safe practices. Many procedures routinely performed by speech-language pathologists have a significant risk of infection due to aerosol generation. COVID-19 testing can inform level of protective equipment, and meticulous hygiene can stem spread of nosocomial infection. Modifications to standard clinical practice in tracheostomy are often required. Personal protective equipment, including either powered air-purifying respirator or N95 mask, gloves, goggles, and gown, are needed when performing aerosol-generating procedures in patients with known or suspected COVID-19 infection. Conclusions Speech-language pathologists are often called on to assist in the care of patients with tracheostomy and known or suspected COVID-19 infection. Appropriate care of these patients is predicated on maintaining the health and safety of the health care team. Careful adherence to best practices can significantly reduce risk of infectious transmission.
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