https://medicalxpress.com/critical-care-medicine-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Critical care medicine A new study from the University of Minnesota Medical School has demonstrated that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) can rapidly reverse systemic inflammation and improve survival in patients with fulminant Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection—a life-threatening condition characterized by a sepsis-like state. The findings are published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-treatment-protocol-deadliest-cases-difficile.html Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:20:03 EDT news694711441 Older adults are much more likely to become seriously ill from flu or COVID because aging lung cells can drive excessive immune responses, according to a new study led by researchers at UC San Francisco. The findings enhance the understanding of the inflammation that accompanies aging, explaining how an otherwise minor cough can sometimes send an elderly person to the hospital. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-covid-flu-older-lungs-harder.html Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:00:08 EDT news693827949 When someone gets a bad infection, the body's immune system rushes in to fight the germs. But sometimes this defense system becomes too strong and starts hurting the person's own tissues and organs. This condition, known as sepsis, is still one of the leading causes of death in hospitals worldwide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-pp4-protein-body-overreacting-severe.html Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:40:01 EDT news693586742 Nearly one in five pediatric hospital deaths in the United States involve sepsis, according to a new national study published in JAMA. The study also found that sepsis occurs in about one in every 75 pediatric hospitalizations and that more than one in 10 children with sepsis die during hospitalization. Based on these findings, the authors estimate that more than 18,000 hospitalized children in the United States have sepsis each year, including more than 1,800 who do not survive to discharge. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-sepsis-linked-pediatric-hospital-deaths.html Sun, 22 Mar 2026 14:30:04 EDT news693150121 A new international study published in eClinicalMedicine has mapped global blood transfusion practices for life-threatening abdominal injuries, highlighting significant variation in care worldwide and opportunities for health systems to learn from one another. The work represents the first multicenter international study to report on blood transfusion strategies for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery following trauma (trauma laparotomy). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-international-trauma-analysis-big-transfusion.html Wed, 04 Mar 2026 18:30:03 EST news691835882 A major new study, led by Queen Mary University of London has been published in The Lancet Public Health. It found that out of the five million surgical procedures performed each year by the NHS, around 300,000 are carried out on individuals considered high-risk, and within 90 days of surgery, these high-risk patients account for four out of five deaths, over half of all hospital bed days and nearly one-third of emergency readmissions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-high-patients-account-surgery-deaths.html Sun, 01 Mar 2026 08:00:05 EST news691241659 In recent years, medical guidelines and national policies have pushed hospitals to offer more palliative care to patients who are seriously ill. This has led to a major rise in palliative care use, especially among people treated in ICUs. Although past research suggested that palliative care can help patients transition to hospice, the actual trends in hospice use after critical illness have not been described. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-hospice-icu-admission.html Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:40:01 EST news690729218 Traumatic injury is the third leading cause of death in the state of Texas, surpassing strokes, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A massive number of these deaths are the result of uncontrolled bleeding. "Severe blood loss can rapidly lead to hemorrhagic shock," said Dr. Akhilesh Gaharwar, a biomedical engineering professor at Texas A&M University. "Many patients die within one to two hours of injury. This critical period is often referred to as the 'golden hour.'" https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-fatal-blood-loss-clay.html Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:53:40 EST news690648782 Trauma patients urgently requiring a breathing tube are more likely to survive if the tube is inserted before arriving at hospital compared to insertion afterwards, suggests a modeling study led by researchers at University College London (UCL) and the Severn Major Trauma Network. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-tube-insertion-hospital-admission-major.html Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:30:07 EST news690023972 Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz have developed a way to predict how trauma patients will recover, days before complications come to fruition, by analyzing the molecules in their blood. In their study published in Science Translational Medicine, the team has shown that "omics" markers (biological signals found in blood) can reveal why patients with similar injuries often recover differently, opening the door to more precise, personalized trauma care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-blood-biomarkers-trauma-patient-recovery.html Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:48:35 EST news690043681 Health care workers have an intense workload and often experience mental distress during resuscitation and other critical care procedures. Although researchers have studied whether robots can support human teams in other high-stakes, high-risk settings such as disaster response and military operations, the role of robots in emergency medicine has not been explored. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-robotic-medical-cart-eases-workload.html Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:40:01 EST news689960356 Severe bleeding is one of the most common and preventable causes of death after traumatic injury, yet currently available tools have poor ability to determine which patients urgently need blood transfusions. A new multinational study, just published in Lancet Digital Health, suggests artificial intelligence (AI) may help close that gap. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-ai-tool-trauma-patients-blood.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:08:57 EST news689508481 Humans can't live without lungs, but Ankit Bharat's patient did for 48 hours. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-artificial-lung-patient-alive-lungs.html Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:00:13 EST news688293361 Overuse of antibiotics has accelerated the development of bacterial resistance to conventional drugs, a global health crisis projected to result in more than 10 million deaths annually by 2050. The multidrug-resistant bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounts for approximately one-fifth of hospital-acquired pneumonia cases and is associated with severe illness and increased mortality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-high-dose-inhaled-nitric-oxide.html Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:00:20 EST news688215781 Dealing with an infection isn't as straightforward as simply killing the pathogen. The body also needs to carefully steer and monitor its immune response to prevent collateral damage. This regulation, called disease tolerance, is crucial to protecting our tissues while the immune system tackles the infection head-on. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-age-specific-treatments-infection-critical.html Wed, 14 Jan 2026 15:18:26 EST news687626281 In intensive care units, some patients who appear unconscious occupy a gray zone in their relationship to the world. To better diagnose them and predict their recovery potential, Dragana Manasova, Jacobo Sitt, and their colleagues have developed an automated tool that integrates multiple modalities for analyzing consciousness. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-approach-patients-disorders-consciousness.html Thu, 08 Jan 2026 12:30:03 EST news687097373