Sophie Marqué

BACKGROUND: Three anatomical sites are commonly used to insert central venous catheters, but insertion at each site has the potential for major complications. METHODS: In this multicenter trial, we randomly assigned nontunneled central venous catheterization in patients in the adult intensive care unit (ICU) to the subclavian, jugular, or femoral vein (in a 1:1:1 ratio if all three insertion sites were suitable [three-choice scheme] and in a 1:1 ratio if two sites were suitable [two-choice scheme]). The primary outcome measure was a composite of catheter-related bloodstream infection and symptomatic deep-vein thrombosis. RESULTS: A total of 3471 catheters were inserted in 3027 patients. In the three-choice comparison, there were 8, 20, and 22 primary outcome events in the subclavian, jugular, and femoral groups, respectively (1.5, 3.6, and 4.6 per 1000 catheter-days; P=0.02). In pairwise comparisons, the risk of the primary outcome was significantly higher in the femoral group than in the subclavian group (hazard ratio, 3.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5 to 7.8; P=0.003) and in the jugular group than in the subclavian group (hazard ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.0 to 4.3; P=0.04), whereas the risk in the femoral group was similar to that in the jugular group (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 0.8 to 2.1; P=0.30). In the three-choice comparison, pneumothorax requiring chest-tube insertion occurred in association with 13 (1.5%) of the subclavian-vein insertions and 4 (0.5%) of the jugular-vein insertions. CONCLUSIONS: In this trial, subclavian-vein catheterization was associated with a lower risk of bloodstream infection and symptomatic thrombosis and a higher risk of pneumothorax than jugular-vein or femoral-vein catheterization. (Funded by the Hospital Program for Clinical Research, French Ministry of Health; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01479153.).

CONTEXT: Based on concerns about the risk of infection, the jugular site is often preferred over the femoral site for short-term dialysis vascular access. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether jugular catheterization decreases the risk of nosocomial complications compared with femoral catheterization. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: A concealed, randomized, multicenter, evaluator-blinded, parallel-group trial (the Cathedia Study) of 750 patients from a network of 9 tertiary care university medical centers and 3 general hospitals in France conducted between May 2004 and May 2007. The severely ill, bed-bound adults had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 45 and required a first catheter insertion for renal replacement therapy. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomized to receive jugular or femoral vein catheterization by operators experienced in placement at both sites. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of infectious complications, defined as catheter colonization on removal (primary end point), and catheter-related bloodstream infection. RESULTS: Patient and catheter characteristics, including duration of catheterization, were similar in both groups. More hematomas occurred in the jugular group than in the femoral group (13/366 patients [3.6%] vs 4/370 patients [1.1%], respectively; P = .03). The risk of catheter colonization at removal did not differ significantly between the femoral and jugular groups (incidence of 40.8 vs 35.7 per 1000 catheter-days; hazard ratio [HR], 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-1.16; P = .31). A prespecified subgroup analysis demonstrated significant qualitative heterogeneity by BMI (P for the interaction term < .001). Jugular catheterization significantly increased incidence of catheter colonization vs femoral catheterization (45.4 vs 23.7 per 1000 catheter-days; HR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.13-3.91; P = .017) in the lowest tercile (BMI <24.2), whereas jugular catheterization significantly decreased this incidence (24.5 vs 50.9 per 1000 catheter-days; HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.23-0.69; P < .001) in the highest tercile (BMI >28.4). The rate of catheter-related bloodstream infection was similar in both groups (2.3 vs 1.5 per 1000 catheter-days, respectively; P = .42). CONCLUSION: Jugular venous catheterization access does not appear to reduce the risk of infection compared with femoral access, except among adults with a high BMI, and may have a higher risk of hematoma. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00277888.

OBJECTIVE: Septic shock is a severe, often terminal, complication of malignancy. For patients without malignancy, outcome from septic shock has improved with new advances in care. We wished to explore whether outcome from septic shock has similarly improved for cancer patients, with regard to implementation of recent adjuvant therapies. DESIGN: An 8-yr retrospective observational study. SETTING: A 24-bed medical intensive care unit in a university hospital. PATIENTS: Patients were 238 consecutive cancer patients (solid tumors or hematologic malignancies) with septic shock admitted to the intensive care unit within two consecutive 4-yr periods: 1998-2001 and 2002-2005. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Septic shock occurred in 90 patients in 1998-2001 and 148 in 2002-2005. Management of septic shock between the two periods mostly differed by emergence of adjuvant therapies of sepsis (mainly low-dose glucocorticoids) and intensive insulin therapy and a more frequent use of renal replacement therapy in the recent period. Short-term survival rates were significantly higher during 2002-2005 compared with the previous 4-yr period: 28-day, intensive care unit, and hospital survival rates were 47.3% vs. 27.8% (p = .003), 41.2% vs. 26.7% (p = .02), and 36.5% vs. 21.1% (p = .01), respectively. After adjustment, intensive care unit admission between 2002 and 2005 was an independent favorable prognostic factor for short-term outcome. Improved survival was mainly observed in patients who did not require renal replacement therapy during their stay in the intensive care unit (hospital survival 65% in 2002-2005 vs. 21.4% in 1998-2001, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Improved outcome in critically ill cancer patients extended to the subgroup of patients with septic shock. This might be ascribed both to a better selection of patients and to improvements in the care and management, including new therapeutic strategies for sepsis.

INTRODUCTION: This study was designed to compare the clinical acceptability of two cardiac output (CO) monitoring systems: a pulse wave contour-based system (FloTrac-Vigileo) and a bioreactance-based system (NICOM), using continuous thermodilution (PAC-CCO) as a reference method. METHODS: Consecutive patients, requiring PAC-CCO monitoring following cardiac surgery, were also monitored by the two other devices. CO values obtained simultaneously by the three systems were recorded continuously on a minute-by-minute basis. RESULTS: Continuous recording was performed on 29 patients, providing 12,099 simultaneous measurements for each device (417 +/- 107 per patient). In stable conditions, correlations of NICOM and Vigileo with PAC-CCO were 0.77 and 0.69, respectively. The bias was -0.01 +/- 0.84 for NICOM and -0.01 +/- 0.81 for Vigileo (NS). NICOM relative error was less than 30% in 94% of the patients and less than 20% in 79% vs. 91% and 79% for the Vigileo, respectively (NS). The variability of measurements around the trend line (precision) was not different between the three methods: 8 +/- 3%, 8 +/- 4% and 8 +/- 3% for PAC-CCO, NICOM and Vigileo, respectively. CO changes were 7.2 minutes faster with Vigileo and 6.9 minutes faster with NICOM (P < 0.05 both systems vs. PAC-CCO, NS). Amplitude of changes was not significantly different than thermodilution. Finally, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting significant CO changes were 0.91 and 0.95 respectively for the NICOM and 0.86 and 0.92 respectively for the Vigileo. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the NICOM and Vigileo devices have similar monitoring capabilities in post-operative cardiac surgery patients.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the factors associated with delayed defecation in long-term ventilated patients and to examine the relationship between delayed defecation and logistic organ dysfunction scores, acquired bacterial infections, and mortality in the intensive care unit. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: A 21-bed polyvalent intensive care unit in a university hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 609 adult patients admitted over a 41-month period who underwent mechanical ventilation for ≥ 6 days. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Three hundred fifty-three patients (58%) passed stools ≥ 6 days after they were admitted to the intensive care unit ("late" defecation). Patients with early and late defecation had similar general characteristics when admitted to the intensive care unit and had similar logistic organ dysfunction scores on the first day of mechanical ventilation. Several variables were independently associated with a delay in defecation: a Pao2/Fio2 ratio of less than 150 mm Hg (adjusted hazard ratio 1.40; 95% confidence interval: 1.06-1.60; p = .0073), a systolic blood pressure between 70 and 89 mm Hg (adjusted hazard ratio 1.48; 95% confidence interval: 1.17-1.79; p = .002), and systolic blood pressure < 68 mm Hg (adjusted hazard ratio 1.29; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.60; p = .03). Logistic organ dysfunction scores were significantly higher on the fourth and ninth days of mechanical ventilation in patients with late defecation than in those with early defecation. The crude intensive care unit mortality rate was 18% in patients with early defecation and 30% in patients with late defecation (p < .001). Acquired bacterial infections at any site occurred in 34% of patients with early defecation and 66% of patients with late defecation (p < .001). CONCLUSION: A Pao2/Fio2 ratio of < 150 mm Hg and systolic blood pressure of < 90 mm Hg during the first 5 days of mechanical ventilation were independently associated with a delay in defecation. Our results suggest that constipation is associated with adverse outcomes in long-term ventilated patients.