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Purpose: The 3 Wishes Project (3WP) promotes holistic end-of-life care in the intensive care unit (ICU) to honor dying patients, support families, and encourage clinician compassion. Organ donation is a wish that is sometimes made by, or on behalf of, critically ill patients. Our objective was to describe the interface between the 3WP and organ donation as experienced by families, clinicians, and organ donation coordinators. Methods: In a multicenter evaluation of the 3WP in 4 Canadian ICUs, we conducted a thematic analysis of transcripts from interviews and focus groups with clinicians, organ donation coordinators, and families of dying or died patients for whom donation was considered. Results: We analyzed transcripts from 26 interviews and 2 focus groups with 18 family members, 17 clinicians, and 6 organ donation coordinators. The central theme describes the mutual goals of the 3WP and organ donation--emphasizing personhood and agency across the temporal continuum of care. During family decision-making, conversations encouraged by the 3WP can facilitate preliminary discussions about donation. During preparation for donation, memory-making activities supported by the 3WP redirect focus toward personhood. During postmortem family care, the 3WP supports families, including when donation is unsuccessful, and highlights aspirational pursuits of donation while encouraging reflections on other fulfilled wishes. Conclusions: Organ donation and the 3WP provide complementary opportunities to engage in value-based conversations during the dying process. The shared values of these programs may help to incorporate organ donation and death into a person's life narrative and incorporate new life into a person's death narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing optimal care to patients with acute respiratory illness while preventing hospital transmission of COVID-19 is of paramount importance during the pandemic; the challenge lies in achieving both goals simultaneously. Controversy exists regarding the role of early intubation versus use of non-invasive respiratory support measures to avoid intubation. This review summarizes available evidence and provides a clinical decision algorithm with risk mitigation techniques to guide clinicians in care of the hypoxemic, non-intubated, patient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although aerosolization of droplets may occur with aerosol-generating medical procedures (AGMP), including high flow nasal oxygen and non-invasive ventilation, the risk of using these AGMP is outweighed by the benefit in carefully selected patients, particularly if care is taken to mitigate risk of viral transmission. Non-invasive support measures should not be denied for conditions where previously proven effective and may be used even while there is suspicion of COVID-19 infection. Patients with de novo acute respiratory illness with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 may also benefit. These techniques may improve oxygenation sufficiently to allow some patients to avoid intubation; however, patients must be carefully monitored for signs of increased work of breathing. Patients showing signs of clinical deterioration or high work of breathing not alleviated by non-invasive support should proceed promptly to intubation and invasive lung protective ventilation strategy. With adherence to these principles, risk of viral spread can be minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia / Journal Canadien d'Anesthésie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia / Journal Canadien d'Anesthésie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia / Journal Canadien d'Anesthésie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia / Journal Canadien d'Anesthésie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Source Citation: Gunst J, Debaveye Y, Güiza F, et al; TGC-Fast Collaborators. Tight blood-glucose control without early parenteral nutrition in the ICU. N Engl J Med. 2023;389:1180-1190. 37754283 Clinical Impact Ratings: GIM/FP/GP: Endocrinology: Critical Care: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Informed consent is a hallmark of ethical clinical research. An inherent challenge in critical care research is obtaining consent when patients lack decision-making capacity. One solution is deferred consent, which is often used for studies that are low risk or involve emergency interventions. Our objective was to describe a deferred consent model in a low-risk critical care study. Methods: Prognostic Value of Elevated Troponins in Critical Illness Study was a prospective, pilot observational study of critically ill patients in 3 intensive care units, involving serial electrocardiograms and cardiac biomarkers. Newly admitted patients were enrolled over 1 month. When possible, informed consent was obtained a priori from the patient or substitute decision maker (SDM); otherwise, consent was deferred until the patient regained consent capacity or until their SDM was available. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between patient’s sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, study center, person providing consent (patient vs SDM), method of consent (telephone vs in person), and the provision or not of informed consent. Results: The overall consent rate was 80.1% (213 of 266 persons approached). Of the 53 persons declining consent, 37 (69.8%) agreed to the use of data collected up until that point. Over half of all consent encounters were with patients rather than SDMs. Median interval delay between enrollment and the consent encounter was 1 day. On multivariate analysis, the only variable associated with consent was male sex of the patient (odds ratio for males 2.59, confidence interval: 1.19-5.63). Conclusion: Deferred consent facilitates implementation of time-sensitive research protocols until a consent encounter is possible. As a feasible alternative to exclusive a priori consent, the deferred consent model can be useful in low-risk studies in critically ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem Gambling (PG) represents a serious problem for affected individuals, their families and society in general. Previous approaches to understanding PG have been confined to only a subset of the psychobiological factors influencing PG. We present a model that attempts to integrate potential causal factors across levels of organization, providing empirical evidence from the vast literature on PG and complimentary literatures in decision-making and addiction. The model posits that components are arranged systematically to bias decisions in favor of either immediately approaching or avoiding targets affording the opportunity for immediate reward. Dopamine, Testosterone and Endogenous Opioids favor immediate approach, while Serotonin and Cortisol favor inhibition. Glutamate is involved in associative learning between stimuli and promotes the approach response through its link to the DA reward system. GABA functions to monitor performance and curb impulsive decision-making. Finally, while very high levels of Norepinephrine can induce arousal to an extent that is detrimental to sound decision-making, the reactivity of the Norepinephrine system and its effects of Cortisol levels can shift the focus towards long-term consequences, thereby inhibiting impulsive decisions. Empirical evidence is provided showing the effects of each component on PG and decision-making across behavioural, neuropsychological, functional neuroimaging and genetic levels. Last, an effect size analysis of the growing pharmacotherapy literature is presented. It is hoped that this model will stimulate multi-level research to solidify our comprehension of biased decision-making in PG and suggest pharmacological and psychological approaches to treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive impairment is common after critical illness and persists beyond the period of acute illness. Clinicians caring for this patient population are encouraged to screen for cognitive impairment and provide supportive measures to mitigate its distressing effects. Further research is needed to evaluate the laboratory and neuroimaging correlates of post-intensive care unit (ICU) cognitive impairment, which may in turn lead to personalized interventions to address this debilitating complication of critical illness. Further research is needed to evaluate the laboratory and neuroimaging correlates of post-ICU cognitive impairment, which may, in turn, lead to personalized interventions to address this debilitating complication of critical illness., Competing Interests: Disclosures K. Honarmand have no conflicts of interest to declare. J.G. Boyd has a CIHR Project Grant (CONFOCAL-2 Study), has received a Clinician-Scientific Award from the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Association, and receives a stipend from the Ontario Health - Trillium Gift of Life for his role as Regional Medical Lead., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)