After the blind insertion of a nasogastric tube (NGT) in critically ill patients, verifying its position is important, as misplacement can lead to severe complications such as pneumonia, pneumothorax, or death. While X-ray remains the gold standard for NGT verification [1,2], readily available methods, …

Background: Ventilation management may differ between COVID–19 ARDS (COVID–ARDS) patients and patients with pre–COVID ARDS (CLASSIC–ARDS); it is uncertain whether associations of ventilation management with outcomes for CLASSIC–ARDS also exist in COVID–ARDS.  Methods: Individual patient data analysis …

Background ICU patients lose muscle mass rapidly and maintenance of muscle mass may contribute to improved survival rates and quality of life. Protein provision may be beneficial for preservation of muscle mass and other clinical outcomes, including survival. Current protein recommendations are expert-based …

Patients who are critically ill and receiving invasivemechanical ventilation are at increased risk for accumula-tion of secretions in the lower airways. Such accumula-tion of airway mucus can induce atelectasis and contributeto ventilator-associated pneumonia. Preventive airwaycare interventions, including …

Abstract Background: COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. The virus quickly spread and was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. After infection, symptoms such as fever, a (dry) cough, nasal congestion, and fatigue can develop. In some cases, the virus causes severe …

The nasopharyngeal commensal Streptococcus pneumoniae can become invasive and cause metastatic infection. This requires the pneumococcus to have the ability to adapt, grow, and reside in diverse host environments. Therefore, we studied whether the likelihood of severe disease manifestations was related …

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to assess swallowing, mouth opening and speech function during the first year after radiation-based treatment (RT(+)) after introduction of a dedicated preventive rehabilitation program for stage III-IV oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC). METHODS: Swallowing, mouth opening and …

People with oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) are at risk of developing aspiration pneumonia. However, there is no "best practice" for oral health interventions to improve swallowing-related outcomes, the incidence of aspiration pneumonia, and oral health in people with OD. Systematic literature searches …

BACKGROUND: Since the benefit-harm balance of adding inhaled corticosteroids to long-acting β2-agonists (LABA) and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is unclear, we evaluated this addition for a range of patient profiles. METHODS: Analyses …

BACKGROUND: The primary aim of this study was to assess the outcome of elderly intensive care unit (ICU) patients treated during the spring and autumn COVID-19 surges in Europe. METHODS: This was a prospective European observational study (the COVIP study) in ICU patients aged 70 years and older admitted …