Implementation of French recommendations for the prevention and the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia: a cluster-randomized trial

BACKGROUND

We determined whether an audit on the adherence to guidelines for hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) for can improve the outcomes of patients in intensive care units (ICUs).

METHODS

This study was conducted at 35 ICUs in 30 hospitals. We included consecutive adult patients hospitalized in ICUs for three days or more. After a three-month baseline period followed by the dissemination of recommendations, an audit on the compliance to recommendations (audit period) was followed by a three-month cluster-randomized trial. We randomly assigned ICUs to either audit and feedback (intervention group) or participation to a national registry (control group). The primary outcome was the duration of ICU stay.

RESULTS

Among 1,856 patients enrolled, 602, 669, and 585 were recruited in the baseline, audit, and intervention periods, respectively. The composite measure of compliance was 47(38-56)% in the intervention group and 42(25-53)% in the control group (p=0.001). As compared to the baseline period, the ICU length of stay was reduced by 3.2 days in the intervention group (p=0.07) and by 2.8 days in the control group (p=0.02). The duration of ICU stay was 7 (5-14) in the control group and 9 (5-20) days in the intervention group (p=0.10). After adjustment for unbalanced baseline characteristics, the hazard ratio for being discharged alive from ICU in the control group was 1.17 (95% CI, 0.69 to 2.01; p=0.10).

CONCLUSIONS

The publication of French guidelines for HAP was associated with a reduction of the ICU length of stay. However, the realization of an audit to improve their application did not further improve outcomes.

Early Massive Pulmonary Embolism After Total Hip Arthroplasty in a Patient With Behcet Disease: A Case Report

Venous complications in Behcet disease (BD) affect nearly 40% of patients. We describe a woman with BD who presented with a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism 30 hours after total hip arthroplasty. The patient underwent surgical thrombectomy and venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Methotrexate was withheld 15 days before surgery and restarted on postoperative day 2. Immunosuppressive therapy, such as methotrexate, appears to be the most effective prophylactic treatment for venous thrombosis in patients with BD, whereas prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin may be ineffective, as was the situation in our patient. Therefore, continuation of methotrexate perioperatively should be considered in patients with BD. Systematically performing preoperative deep vein thrombosis screening should be also considered. The patient also had diabetes mellitus treated with metformin and sitagliptin preoperatively.