50 Studies Every Intensivist Should Know

Dr. Edward Bittner, MD, PhD is an anesthesiologist and critical care physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he serves as Program Director for the Critical Care Medicine Fellowship and Associate Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. He is also an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School. He earned his PhD in biostatistics from Tulane University, medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and a master's degree in Medical Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bittner has broad academic and research interests that combine his background in biostatistics and education with his clinical expertise of anesthesiology and critical care. He has published over 150 original articles, reviews, chapters, and editorials in high impact journals and authoritative textbooks. He has also edited nine widely used books in anesthesiology and critical care.

• Section 1: Neurologic, Sedation, and AnalgesiaChapter 1: Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia to Improve the Neurologic Outcome after Cardiac Arrest: The HACA trialAla NozariChapter 2: Decompressive Craniectomy in Diffuse Traumatic Brain Injury: The DECRA TrialMerrick E. Miles and Avinash B. KumarChapter 3: Daily interruption of sedative infusions in critically ill patients undergoing mechanical ventilationDavid StahlChapter 4: A comparison of four treatments for generalized convulsive status epilepticusJason L. Sanders and Jarone LeeChapter 5: Efficacy and safety of a paired sedation and ventilator weaning protocol for mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care: a randomised controlled trial (Awakening and Breathing Controlled Trial)Jeffery Katz and Steve GreenbergChapter 6: A protocol of no sedation for critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation: a randomized trialUlrich Schmidt and Zeb McMillanChapter 7: Intracranial Pressure Monitoring in Severe Traumatic Brain InjuryThomas Peponis and David R. King Section 2: Cardiovascular, Resuscitation, ShockChapter 8: Early Goal-Directed Therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock: The EGDT trialNamita Jayaprakash and Joseph HyderChapter 9: Lactate Clearance vs Central Venous Oxygen Saturation as Goals of Early Sepsis TherapyMarc de Moya and Leandra KrowsoskiChapter 10: Efficacy and Safety of Recombinant Human Activated Protein C for Severe Sepsis: The PROWESS StudyAnna M. Ward and Richard M. PinoChapter 11: Saline Versus Albumin for Resuscitation of Critically Ill Adults: The SAFE StudyCraig S. JabaleyChapter 12: The Use of the Pulmonary Artery Catheter in Critical Care: The PAC-Man TrialShahzad Shaefi and Ameeka PannuChapter 13: Vasopressin versus Norepinephrine Infusion in Patients with Septic Shock: The VASST TrialKarim FikryChapter 14: Comparison of dopamine and norepinephrine in the treatment of shock: The SOAP II TrialDaniel W. JohnsonChapter 15: CPR with Chest Compression Alone or with Rescue BreathingChristopher "Kit" Tainter and Gabriel WardiChapter 16: Advanced Heart Failure Treated with Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist DeviceDavid M. Dudzinski and James Sawalla GusehChapter 17: Intraaortic Balloon Support in Myocardial Infarction Complicated by Cardiogenic ShockDavid M. Dudzinski and Sam BernardChapter 18: Angioplasty vs. Fibrinolytics in Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: The DANAMI-2 TrialBryan Simmons Section 3: Pulmonary, ARDSChapter 19: The Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network: Ventilation with Lower Tidal Volumes as Compared with Traditional Tidal Volumes for Acute Lung Injury and the Acute Respiratory Distress SyndromeLaleh Jalilian and Jeanine Wiener KronishChapter 20: Neuromuscular Blockers in Early Acute Respiratory Distress SyndromeDuncan McLean and Matthias EikermannChapter 21: Prone Positioning in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: The PROSEVA trialAndrea Coppadoro and Giuseppe FotiChapter 22: Efficacy and economic assessment of conventional ventilatory support versus extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe adult respiratory failure (CESAR): a multicentre randomised controlled trialMatthew James SigakisChapter 23: Comparison of Two Fluid-Management Strategies in Acute Lung Injury: The FACTT TrialRoss Gaudet and Rebecca KalmanChapter 24: Positive End-Expiratory Pressure Setting in Adults with ALI and ARDS: The ExPress TrialJ. Aaron Scott and Vivek MoitraChapter 25: Efficacy and safety of corticosteroids for persistent acute respiratory distress syndrome Sean Levy and Ednan BajwaChapter 26: Effect of Early Vs. Late Tracheostomy Placement on Survival in Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: The TRACMAN TrialJ. Michael Guthrie and Vadim GudzenkoChapter 27: Using Esophageal Pressures to Improve Oxygenation and Compliance in Acute Lung InjuryConnie Wang and Edward BittnerChapter 28: A comparison of four methods of weaning patients from mechanical ventilationSheri Berg and Archit SharmaChapter 29: Noninvasive Ventilation for Acute COPD ExacerbationsRobert Loflin and David KaufmanChapter 30: High-Frequency Oscillation in Early Acute Respiratory Distress SyndromeSusan Wilcox and Haitham Al Ashry Section 4: Gastrointestinal/NutritionChapter 31: Risk Factors for Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Critically Ill PatientsMiguel Cobas and Melissa GrilloChapter 32: Early vs. Late Parenteral Nutrition in the ICU: The EPaNIC (Early Parenteral Nutrition Completing Enteral Nutrition in Adult Critically Ill Patients) TrialD. Dante YehChapter 33: Initial Trophic vs Full Enteral Feeding in Patients With Acute Lung Injury: The EDEN Randomized TrialMilad Sharifpour and Pedro Mendez-TellezChapter 34: Early versus On-Demand Nasoenteric Tube Feeding in Acute PancreatitisPeter J. FagenholzChapter 35: Glutamine and Antioxidants in Critically Ill Patients: The Redoxs TrialYuk Ming Liu and Jarone Lee Section 5: RenalChapter 36: Low-Dose Dopamine in Patients with Early Renal DysfunctionTao ShenChapter 37: Intensity of Renal Support in Critically Ill Patients with Acute Kidney InjuryEric Ehieli and Yuriy BrohnsteynChapter 38: Continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration versus intermittent haemodialysis for acute renal failure in patients with multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome: a multicentre randomised trail. Christina Anne Jelly and Edward Bittner Section 6: HematologicChapter 39: A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial of Transfusion Requirements in Critical Care: The Transfusion Requirements in Critical Care (TRICC) TrialJoseph R. Guenzer and Andrew VardanianChapter 40: Reducing Mortality Among Bleeding Trauma Patients with Tranexamic Acid: The CRASH-2 (Clinical Randomization of an Antifibrinolytic in Significant Haemorrhage-2) Randomized Controlled TrialHaytham M.A. KaafaraniChapter 41: Transfusion of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells in a 1:1:1 vs a 1:1:2 ration and mortality in patients with severe trauma: The PROPPR randomized clinical trialYuk Ming Liu amd Kathryn Butler Section 7: InfectiousChapter 42: Comparison of 8 vs 15 days of antibiotic therapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults: a randomized trial.Laurie O. Mark and Jean KwoChapter 43: Bronchoscopy with Bronchoalveolar Lavage vs. Endotracheal Aspiration for the Diagnosis of Ventilator Associated PneumoniaSamad Rasul and David C. KaufmanChapter 44: Randomized trial of combination versus monotherapy for the empiric treatment of suspected ventilator-associated pneumoniaKimberly Pollock and Angela MeierChapter 45: Use of procalcitonin to reduce patients' exposure to antibiotics in intensive care units (PRORATA trial): a multicentre randomised controlled trialAlice Gallo De Moraes and Dante SchiavoChapter 46: Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal Decontamination to Prevent Nosocomial Infection in Cardiac Surgery PatientsJose L. Diaz-Gomez and Sarah W. RobisonChapter 47: An intervention to decrease catheter-related bloodstream infections in the ICU: The Keystone ICU ProjectCourtney Maxey-Jones and Edward Bittner Section 8: EndocrineChapter 48: The Normoglycemia in Intensive Care Evaluation-Survival Using Glucose Algorithm Regulation (NICE-SUGAR) TrialDaniel J. Niven and Tom StelfoxChapter 49: Hydrocortisone Therapy for Patients with Septic Shock: The CORTICUS TrialRyan J. Horvath and Edward Bittner Section 9: MusculoskeletalChapter 50: Daily interruption of sedation with physical and occupational therapy in mechanically ventilated patientsMichael Wolfe and Daniel Saddawi-Konefka

From junior postgraduate residents to senior consultants, this book is a must read.