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Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has gained acceptance throughout the industrialized world. The present study was performed to provide information about the use of CAM at Mayo Clinic, an academic medical center in Northern Midwest of the US. We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of 2680 patients visiting the CAM program at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, between 1 July 2006 and 31 March 2011. Services provided included acupuncture, massage, integrative medical consultations and executive stress management training. Data including age, gender, race, diagnosis and the number of treatment/consultation sessions were collected to describe the use of CAM in our institute over the last several years. It was found that the mean (standard deviation) age of patient was 52.6 (15.5) years. Of those, 73.1% were female and 26.9% were male. Most patients were white. The number of patients referred to CAM increased significantly from 2007 to 2010. The three most common diagnostic categories were back pain (12.9%), psychological disorders (11.8%), and joint pain (9.6%). Back pain was the most common diagnosis for patients receiving acupuncture, and fibromyalgia was the most common for patients receiving massage therapy. Psychological disorders (i.e., stress) were the major diagnosis referred to both integrative medical consults and executive stress management training. These results suggest that the diseases related to pain and psychological disorders are the main fields of CAM use. It also shows the increasing trend of the use of CAM at an academic medical center in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence and outcomes of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) are incompletely defined. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the trends in incidence and outcomes of critically ill patients with DIC., Methods: We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study evaluating consecutively admitted adult (≥ 18 years old) critically ill patients with DIC at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, from 2004 to 2010. DIC was diagnosed according to the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis' overt DIC algorithm. Patients given a diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, Child Pugh class C, or any known congenital or acquired coagulation disorders were excluded., Results: Of the 8,089 Olmsted County resident ICU admissions, a total of 154 patients met the DIC inclusion criteria. The overall incidence rate of DIC/100,000 person-years decreased from 26.2 (95% CI, 17.1-38.4) in 2004 to 18.6 (95% CI, 11.3-28.7) in 2010. The incidence rate of DIC increased with age in both men and women and was consistently higher in men, with the exception of the age group 18 to 39 years. The incidence rate/100,000 person-years of DIC in men decreased from 41.6 (95% CI, 25.4-64.2) in 2004 to 21.2 (95% CI, 10.6 37.9) in 2010 (P = .01), whereas in women, it did not change significantly (P = .79). The case fatality rate did not change significantly during the study period., Conclusions: The incidence of DIC has decreased over the past decade, significantly in men, although the mortality rate remains the same. This is in agreement with trends in other critical care syndromes and could be attributable to improvements in health care delivery.

Background: Noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) is a front-line therapy for the management of acute respiratory failure (ARF) in the intensive care units. However, the data on factors and outcomes associated with the use of NIV in ARF patients is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to determine the utilization of NIV for ARF in a population-based study., Methods: We conducted a populated-based retrospective cohort study, where in all consecutively admitted adults (≥18 years) with ARF from Olmsted County, Rochester, MN, at the Mayo Clinic medical and surgical ICUs, during 2006 were included. Patients without research authorization or on chronic NIV use for sleep apnea were excluded., Results: Out of 1461 Olmsted County adult residents admitted to the ICUs in 2006, 364 patients developed ARF, of which 146 patients were initiated on NIV. The median age in years was 75 (interquartile range, 60-84), 48% females and 88.7% Caucasians. Eighteen patients (12%) were on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) mode and 128 (88%) were on noninvasive intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV) mode. Forty-six (10%) ARF patients were put on NIV for palliative strategy to alleviate dyspnea. Seventy-six ARF patients without treatment limitation were given a trial of NIV and 49 patients succeeded, while 27 had to be intubated. Mortality was similar between the patients initially supported with NIV versus invasive mechanical ventilation (33% vs 22%, P=0.289). In the multivariate analysis, the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and higher APACHE III scores were associated with the failure of initial NIV treatment., Conclusions: Our results have important implications for a future planning of NIV in a suburban US community with high access to critical care services. The higher APACHE III scores and the development of ARDS are associated with the failure of initial NIV treatment.