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In patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and erosive esophagitis, treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is highly effective. However, in some patients, especially those with nonerosive reflux disease or atypical GERD symptoms, acid-suppressive therapy with PPIs is not as successful. Alginates are medications that work through an alternative mechanism by displacing the postprandial gastric acid pocket. This study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the benefit of alginate-containing compounds in the treatment of patients with symptoms of GERD. PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane library electronic databases were searched through October 2015 for randomized controlled trials comparing alginate-containing compounds to placebo, antacids, histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs), or PPIs for the treatment of GERD symptoms. Additional studies were identified through a bibliography review. Non-English studies and those with pediatric patients were excluded. Meta-analyses were performed using random-effect models to calculate odds ratios (OR). Heterogeneity between studies was estimated using the I2 statistic. Analyses were stratified by type of comparator. The search strategy yielded 665 studies and 15 (2.3%) met inclusion criteria. Fourteen were included in the meta-analysis (N = 2095 subjects). Alginate-based therapies increased the odds of resolution of GERD symptoms when compared to placebo or antacids (OR: 4.42; 95% CI 2.45–7.97) with a moderate degree of heterogeneity between studies (I2 = 71%, P = .001). Compared to PPIs or H2RAs, alginates appear less effective but the pooled estimate was not statistically significant (OR: 0.58; 95% CI 0.27–1.22). Alginates are more effective than placebo or antacids for treating GERD symptoms.

Malnutrition in the critically ill or injured child is associated with increased morbidities and mortality in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), whether present upon admission or acquired during the PICU stay. Particular subpopulations such as those with congenital heart disease or severe thermal injury are at highest risk for malnutrition which can worsen with illness progression. A growing body of evidence suggests the presence of a positive association between nutrition support during critical illness and patient outcomes. Enteral nutrition (EN), the preferred route of nutrient delivery, may be a crucial component of care provided in the PICU which modifies the response to critical illness or injury, resulting in improved outcomes. Numerous challenges exist in the delivery of the EN goal in critically ill children. These include accurate assessment of nutrient requirements, hemodynamic instability, feeding intolerance, feeding interruptions, and the lack of a standardized approach to nutrition support. This article describes the current state of the science and challenges related to EN prescription and delivery in the critically ill child. Suggestions for improving EN practice are then presented, in addition to a platform for further research inquiry.

BackgroundThe estimated incidence of sports related concussion has increased from 300,000 in 2007 to over 1.6 million in 2017, with a large percentage occurring in youth athletes. There are growing concerns about the cognitive and emotional wellbeing of young athletes during concussion recovery.ObjectiveTo review research evaluating how concussion relates to changes in emotion and mood in high school and college athletes.Design/methodsRelevant articles from 1997 to 2017 were searched on PubMed using keywords and official MeSH terms such as: (1) concussion; or brain injuries, traumatic; or TBI and (2) high school; or college; and, (3) depression; or affect; or mood. English language articles were included for analysis if they measured concussed high school or college athletes using a validated instrument for assessing emotion and mood.ResultsTen published studies met the inclusion criteria. Five studies measured changes in emotional response in athletes after concussion. The other studies compared emotional response in athletes after concussion to the emotional response in athletes after non-concussive sports injury, such as musculoskeletal, or orthopedic injury.ConclusionDespite heterogeneity in methods and limitations in the literature, our review suggests growing consensus that concussions result in altered emotions and mood. However, current research shows conflicting results on whether alterations in emotional response are different post-concussion than post non-concussive sports injury.

To assess the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), pharmacokinetics and antitumor activity of Triapine administered in combination with doxorubicin.Patients were treated with doxorubicin intravenously (IV) on day 1 and Triapine IV on days 1-4 of a 21-day cycle. The starting dose (level 1) was doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) and Triapine 25 mg/m(2). PK analysis was performed at various time-points before and after treatment.Twenty patients received a total of 49 courses of treatment on study. At dose level 2 (doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2), Triapine 45 mg/m(2)), two patients experienced DLTs (febrile neutropenia, grade 4 thrombocytopenia). An additional three patients were enrolled at dose level 1 without initial toxicity. Enrollment then resumed at dose level 2a with a decreased dose of doxorubicin (45 mg/m(2)) with Triapine 45 mg/m(2). The two patients enrolled on this level had two DLTs (diarrhea, CVA). Enrollment was planned to resume at dose level 1; however, the sixth patient enrolled to this cohort developed grade 5 heart failure (ejection fraction 20%, pretreatment EF 62%) after the second course. Thus, doxorubicin and Triapine were reduced to 45 and 25 mg/m(2), respectively (level 1a), prior to resuming enrollment at dose level 1, the MTD. The main drug-related toxicity was myelosuppression. Non-hematologic toxicities included mild-to-moderate fatigue, grade 3 diarrhea and grade 4 CVA. There was one treatment-related death due to heart failure. While no objective responses were observed, subjective evidence of clinical activity was observed in patients with refractory melanoma and prostate cancer.Pretreated patients with advanced malignancies can tolerate the combination of Triapine and doxorubicin at doses that achieve subjective clinical benefit with the main treatment-related toxicities being myelosuppression and fatigue. The MTD was determined to be doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) on day 1 and Triapine 25 mg/m(2) on days 1-4 of a 21-day cycle.

The US federal government has enacted legislation for a federal incentive program for health care providers and hospitals to implement electronic health records. The primary goal of the Meaningful Use (MU) program is to drive adoption of electronic health records nationwide and set the stage to monitor and guide efforts to improve population health and outcomes. The MU program provides incentives for the adoption and use of electronic health record technology and, in some cases, penalties for hospitals or providers not using the technology. The MU program is administrated by the Department of Health and Human Services and is divided into 3 stages that include specific reporting and compliance metrics. The rationale is that increased use of electronic health records will improve the process of delivering care at the individual level by improving the communication and allow for tracking population health and quality improvement metrics at a national level in the long run. The goal of this narrative review is to describe the MU program as it applies to anesthesiologists in the United States. This narrative review will discuss how anesthesiologists can meet the eligible provider reporting criteria of MU by applying anesthesia information management systems (AIMS) in various contexts in the United States. Subsequently, AIMS will be described in the context of MU criteria. This narrative literature review also will evaluate the evidence supporting the electronic health record technology in the operating room, including AIMS, independent of certification requirements for the electronic health record technology under MU in the United States.

Importance The human and financial costs of treating surgical site infections (SSIs) are increasing. The number of surgical procedures performed in the United States continues to rise, and surgical patients are initially seen with increasingly complex comorbidities. It is estimated that approximately half of SSIs are deemed preventable using evidence-based strategies. Objective To provide new and updated evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of SSI. Evidence Review A targeted systematic review of the literature was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library from 1998 through April 2014. A modified Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to assess the quality of evidence and the strength of the resulting recommendation and to provide explicit links between them. Of 5759 titles and abstracts screened, 896 underwent full-text review by 2 independent reviewers. After exclusions, 170 studies were extracted into evidence tables, appraised, and synthesized. Findings Before surgery, patients should shower or bathe (full body) with soap (antimicrobial or nonantimicrobial) or an antiseptic agent on at least the night before the operative day. Antimicrobial prophylaxis should be administered only when indicated based on published clinical practice guidelines and timed such that a bactericidal concentration of the agents is established in the serum and tissues when the incision is made. In cesarean section procedures, antimicrobial prophylaxis should be administered before skin incision. Skin preparation in the operating room should be performed using an alcohol-based agent unless contraindicated. For clean and clean-contaminated procedures, additional prophylactic antimicrobial agent doses should not be administered after the surgical incision is closed in the operating room, even in the presence of a drain. Topical antimicrobial agents should not be applied to the surgical incision. During surgery, glycemic control should be implemented using blood glucose target levels less than 200 mg/dL, and normothermia should be maintained in all patients. Increased fraction of inspired oxygen should be administered during surgery and after extubation in the immediate postoperative period for patients with normal pulmonary function undergoing general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. Transfusion of blood products should not be withheld from surgical patients as a means to prevent SSI. Conclusions and Relevance This guideline is intended to provide new and updated evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of SSI and should be incorporated into comprehensive surgical quality improvement programs to improve patient safety.

Background: Studies from past decades demonstrate that few articles on end of life issues are published in cardiology journals, compared with other medical specialties. Methods: We searched OvidMEDLINE from January 2001 - August 2012 for end of life articles published in cardiology, critical care, respiratory, geriatrics, general medicine, and oncology journals with impact factor (IF) > 1 according to Journal Citation Reports. To test reliability of defining end of life articles, a separate reviewer re-examined a subset of articles from a randomly selected journal for each specialty. Reviewers were compared using a kappa statistic. To estimate rate ratios for publishing end of life articles, a Poisson regression model was used with indicator variables for journal specialty, and IF as an adjustment covariate. Results: 3741 end of life articles were identified from 391 journals, including 89 cardiology journals. Agreement was good between reviewers (k=0.75). Critical care, general medicine and geriatrics published a higher percentage of end of life articles than cardiology (Rate Ratio [RR] 3.6, 2.5 and 3.7 respectively, p Conclusion: Cardiology journals no longer published the lowest percentage of end of life articles among medical specialties. These findings suggest a growing, though still suboptimal, recognition of the importance of end of life care in cardiology.

To define dose limiting toxicities (DLTs) and the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of capecitabine with fixed-dose rate (FDR) gemcitabine.Eligible adults (advanced solid tumor; performance statusor=2) received capecitabine 500 mg/m(2) PO BID days 1-14 and FDR gemcitabine (400-1,000 mg/m(2) escalated by 200 mg/m(2) increments) at 10 mg/m(2)/min days 1 and 8 on a 21-day cycle. A traditional 3 + 3 cohort design was used to determine the MTD.Thirty patients (median age 59 years) were enrolled. The predominant gradeor=3 toxicity was myelosuppression, particularly neutropenia. At dose level 4 (1,000 mg/m(2) gemcitabine), two out of five evaluable patients had a DLT (grade 4 neutropeniaor=7 days). At dose level 3 (800 mg/m(2) gemcitabine), one patient had a DLT (grade 3 neutropeniaor=7 days) among six evaluable patients. Therefore, the MTD and recommended phase II dose was designated as capecitabine 500 mg/m(2) PO BID days 1-14 with 800 mg/m(2) FDR gemcitabine days 1 and 8 infused at 10 mg/m(2) per min on a 21-day cycle. Partial responses occurred in pretreated patients with esophageal, renal cell and bladder carcinomas.This regimen was well tolerated and may deserve evaluation in advanced gastrointestinal and genitourinary carcinomas.