Critical Care Evidence Updates – December 2025

Randomised Controlled Trials

A preventive care strategy to reduce moderate or severe acute kidney injury after major surgery (BigpAK-2); a multinational, randomised clinical trial  The Lancet

Awake Prone Positioning in Patients With COVID-19 Respiratory Failure – A Randomized Clinical Trial  JAMA Network Open

Cost-Effectiveness of Pantoprazole to Prevent Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Mechanically Ventilated Patients  JAMA Network Open

Does in-bed cycling delivered within 48 hours of mechanical ventilation, reduce the occurrence of delirium in critically ill patients: A mixed-methods feasibility randomised controlled trial protocol  Journal of the Intensive Care Society

Effect of guided imagery on dyspnea in trauma ICU patients: a randomized controlled trial  Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

Flow-controlled ventilation versus pressure-controlled ventilation in moderate to severe ARDS patients: a randomized crossover physiological study  Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

Levosimendan to Facilitate Weaning From ECMO in Patients With Severe Cardiogenic Shock – The LEVOECMO Randomized Clinical Trial  JAMA

Oral acetaminophen and postoperative delirium in noncardiac surgical older patients requiring intensive care unit admission: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial  Journal of Intensive Medicine

Personalized mechanical ventilation guided by lung ultrasound in patients with ARDS: a pilot phase of a randomized clinical trial  Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

Physiological Effects of High-Flow Nasal Oxygen Compared With Conventional Oxygen Therapy: A Randomized Trial in Postextubation Patients  Critical Care Medicine

Seven-Day vs Four-Day Infusion Set Replacement Interval and Catheter-Related Infections  JAMA Network Open

The effects of remifentanil and dexmedetomidine on the gastro-oesophageal pressure gradient: A crossover randomised controlled volunteer trial  Anaesthesia and Intensive Care

The impact of a noise reduction bundle on ICU staff: A stepped-wedge cluster randomized clinical trial  Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

 

Other Guidance/Reports

2026 American Society of Anesthesiologists Practice Guideline on Perioperative Pain Management Using Local and Regional Analgesia for Cardiothoracic Surgeries, Mastectomy, and Abdominal Surgeries  Anesthesiology

Airway Management in Thoracic Anesthesia: EACTAIC Consensus Document  Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia

Diagnosis and management of invasive candidiasis in critically ill patients: SIAARTI multidisciplinary statement  Journal of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Critical Care

Monitoring of invasive assisted mechanical ventilation: a good clinical practice document by the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care (SIAARTI)  Journal of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Critical Care

Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Practice Guidelines on Adult End-of-Life Care in the ICU  Critical Care Medicine

UK multisociety consensus statement on the emergency management and resuscitation of patients with left-sided Impella support  Heart

 

Cochrane

Impact of rapid nucleic acid amplification tests for tuberculosis on patient outcomes

Primary Research

A comparison of sodium concentration measured in laboratory autoanalyser versus point-of-care blood gas machine: A retrospective, multicentre, analytical study in a large adult intensive care unit population  Critical Care and Resuscitation

A continuous convolutional neural network: very early EEG most predictive for poor neurological outcome in postanoxic coma  Resuscitation

A preclinical randomised controlled dose optimization of megadose sodium ascorbate for reversal of gram-negative sepsis-induced cardiovascular, brain and kidney dysfunction  Critical Care

A prospective cohort feasibility study of real-time beta-lactam antimicrobial therapeutic drug monitoring in critically ill patients with lower respiratory infection: The TDM-TIME study  Journal of the Intensive Care Society

Acute renal replacement therapy in cardiogenic shock: Prognostic impact of timing, modality, and indications – Insights from the FRENSHOCK study  Journal of Critical Care

Airway opening pressure in mechanically ventilated patients: regional distribution and impact of body position  Critical Care

Antibiotic De-Escalation in Adults Hospitalized for Community-Onset Sepsis  JAMA Internal Medicine

Association of Early Albumin Administration with 28-Day in-Hospital Mortality in Septic Patients with Solid Malignant Neoplasms: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis of the MIMIC-IV Database  Journal of Intensive Care Medicine

Association of Pulmonary Artery Catheter Utilization with Outcomes in Patients with Cardiogenic Shock: A Retrospective Propensity-Matched Study   Journal of Intensive Care Medicine

Blood biomarkers for the prediction of outcome after cardiac arrest: an international prospective observational study within the Targeted Hypothermia versus Normothermia after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (TTM2) trial   The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

BRIDGE-ICU: A Novel Initiative to Align Goals of Care With Prognosis, Functional Goals, and Quality of Life in Critical Care   Critical Care Nurse

Choosing wisely: comparing the carbon footprint of three respiratory sampling techniques for ventilator-associated pneumonia  Annals of Intensive Care

Comparison of Histamine-2 Receptor Antagonists and Proton Pump Inhibitors for Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in Patients With Septic Shock  Critical Care Medicine

Contact precautions prevent cross-contamination of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales in an intensive care unit: a prospective observational study  Annals of Intensive Care

Critical Illness Related Cardiac Arrest (CIRCA): a prospective investigation of the incidence and outcome of cardiac arrest within intensive care units in the United Kingdom  Resuscitation

Critically Ill Patients with Severe Cirrhosis Receiving Dexmedetomidine at a Higher Risk of Cardiovascular Instability: Application of an Objective Novel Cirrhosis Scoring System  Journal of Intensive Care Medicine

Derivation and validation of a prediction rule for sedative-associated delirium during acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation  Journal of Critical Care

Development and validation of the Hypotensive Exposure Duration Index for mortality risk prediction in critically ill patients  Journal of Intensive Care

Effect of noninvasive ventilation on tracheal reintubation among patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure following abdominal surgery: a bayesian post-hoc analysis of the NIVAS trial  Critical Care

Experience with physiological based cord clamping is associated with increased effect size: a post-hoc analysis of the ABC3 trial  Resuscitation

Factors associated with adverse haemodynamic events during the STARRT-AKI trial: a post-hoc secondary analysis  Critical Care

Feeding-associated hypophosphatemia in critically ill patients. A multicentre, observational study  Journal of Critical Care

Flexible Fidelity: Adaptation of the ICU-PAUSE Handoff Tool During Implementation Across 11 ICUs  Critical Care Explorations

Frailty and outcomes after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a binational registry-based cohort study  Critical Care

Frequency of physical and occupational therapy in the ICU for patients with cognitive motor dissociation: a retrospective cohort study  Critical Care

Hormonal response following hemorrhage after severe trauma: an observational prospective study  Critical Care

ICU staffing and patient outcomes in English hospital Trusts: A longitudinal observational study examining ICU length of stay, re-admission and infection rates  Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

Impact of differential temperature trajectories following targeted temperature management on outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients receiving ECPR: a multicenter, retrospective study with prospective validation  Resuscitation

Impact of Pre–ICU benzodiazepine and Z–Drug exposure on mortality in critically ill Adults: A nationwide retrospective cohort study: A nationwide retrospective cohort study  Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

Influence of ventilatory settings on pendelluft and expiratory muscle activity in hypoxemic patients resuming spontaneous breathing  Critical Care

Magnesium Supplementation and Tachyarrhythmias – A Nonrandomized Clinical Trial  JAMA Internal Medicine

Mapping the discourse of environmental sustainability in intensive care nursing: a lexicometric exploration of professional meaning-making  Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

Monitoring diaphragmatic effort during neurostimulation-assisted ventilation  Critical Care

Practice Patterns in Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials in the Intensive Care Unit  Critical Care Nurse

Predicting early prone position ventilation responsiveness in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome based on electrical impedance tomography: a prospective study  Critical Care

Prediction and prevention of ventilation impairments during bronchoscopy  Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

Prolonged infusion of remimazolam in surgical and medical intensive care unit patients: a pilot pharmacokinetic study  Journal of Intensive Care

Sand aspiration managed with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and a mechanical insufflation-exsufflation device: A case report  Journal of the Intensive Care Society

Site-specific complications of central venous catheterization under systematic ultrasound guidance: a target trial emulation revisiting the 3SITES study  Critical Care

Spectrum, dose, and duration of antibiotic exposure and risk of intensive care unit–acquired carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria: a prospective cohort study  Annals of Intensive Care

Survival after ICU discharge is shaped more by chronic disease than admission severity  Journal of Critical Care

The Association Between Charlson Comorbidity Index in Different Comorbidities and ICU Admission in Patients with Aortic Aneurysm  Journal of Intensive Care Medicine

The association of arterial partial oxygen pressure with mortality in patients with severe acute pancreatitis: a retrospective cohort study  Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

The Impact of High-Flow Nasal Cannula Therapy on Diaphragmatic Function Assessed by Ultrasound: A Pilot Clinical Study  Critical Care Medicine

The Impact of Mindful Clinical Aromatherapy on Intensive Care Unit Nurses’ Stress Experience: A Quality Improvement Project  Critical Care Nurse

The implementation of a noise reduction bundle in the intensive care unit: A qualitative process evaluation  Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

The role of transcranial Doppler in predicting the incidence and prognosis of sepsis-associated encephalopathy  Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

Use of Oxiris membrane in real-world clinical practice in critical care patients: a multicenter observational study  Journal of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Critical Care

Validation of a predictive risk score of aggressive PK/PD target non-attainment with continuous infusion piperacillin/tazobactam or meropenem in critically ill patients having documented Gram-negative infections  Journal of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Critical Care

 

Metadata

Summary author: Rebecca Howes @ClinicalLibsPHU
Summary date:
Picture by: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash