Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is increasingly used to support adults with severe respiratory failure refractory to conventional measures. In 2011, NHS England commissioned a national service to provide ECMO to adults with refractory acute respiratory failure. Our aims were to characterise the patients admitted to the service, report their outcomes, and highlight characteristics potentially associated with survival. Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted of all patients treated by the NHS England commissioned ECMO service between December 1, 2011 and December 31, 2017. Analysis was conducted according to a prespecified protocol (NCT: 03979222). Data are presented as median [inter-quartile range, IQR]. Results: A total of 1205 patients were supported with ECMO during the study period; the majority (n¼1150; 95%) had venovenous ECMO alone. The survival rate at ECMO ICU discharge was 74% (n¼887). Survivors had a lower median age (43 yr [32e52]), compared with non-survivors (49 y [39e60]). Increased severity of hypoxaemia at time of decision-to-cannulate was associated with a lower probability of survival: survivors had a median SaO 2 of 90% (84e93%; median PaO 2 /FiO 2 , 9.4 kPa [7.7e12.6]), compared with non-survivors (SaO 2 88% [80e92%]; PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio: 8.5 kPa [7.1e11.5]). Patients requiring ECMO because of asthma were more likely to survive (95% survival rate (95% CI, 91e99%), compared with a survival of 71% (95% CI, 69e74%) in patients with respiratory failure attributable to other diagnoses. Conclusion: A national ECMO service can achieve good short-term outcomes for patients with undifferentiated respiratory failure refractory to conventional management. Clinical trial registration: NCT 03979222.

This analysis of an extensive data set shows that patient LOS in ICU after cardiac surgery in a single center can be predicted accurately using the simple cardiac operative risk scoring tool EuroSCORE. Using such predictions has the potential to improve ICU resource management.

SummaryThis prospective, time series, cross-sectional study was designed to compare the quality of handwritten vs computerised prescriptions in a tertiary 25-bedded cardiothoracic intensive care unit. A total of 14 721 prescriptions for 613 patients were analysed over three periods of investigation: 7 months before; and 5 and 12 months after implementation of a clinical information system with computerised physician order entry capability. Errors in prescribing were common. Only (53%) of handwritten charts analysed had all immediate administration drugs prescribed correctly.

Background: Circadian rhythm disturbance is common postoperatively in older patients with hip fractures, which may contribute to the development of postoperative delirium (POD). As a reliable biomarker of endogenous circadian rhythms, melatonin regulates the sleep-wake cycle and environmental adaptation, and its secretory rhythm may be modified by anaesthesia and surgery. This study compared the impact of subarachnoid anaesthesia (SA) and general anaesthesia (GA), on the peak of melatonin secretion (primary outcome), the circadian rhythm of melatonin, cortisol and sleep, and the POD incidence (secondary outcome). Methods: In this prospective cohort observational study, hip fracture surgery patients were enrolled and assigned to receive either SA or GA. Postoperative plasma melatonin and cortisol levels were dynamically measured every six hours on seven time-points, and the circadian rhythm parameters including mesor, amplitude, and acrophase were calculated. Subjective and objective sleep assessments were performed by sleep diaries and sleep trackers, respectively. The Confusion Assessment Method was used twice daily by a specific geriatrician to screen for POD occurrence. Findings: In a cohort of 138 patients who underwent hip fracture surgery, the circadian rhythm disruption of the patients in the GA group (n=69) was greater than the SA group (n=69). Compared with SA, GA provided the lower peak concentration, mesor, and amplitude of melatonin secretion on postoperative day 1 (p < 0.05). Patients in the GA group experienced higher awakenings, more sleep deprivation, and poor sleep quality on surgery day (p < 0.05). A proportion of 12 patients in the SA group (17.4%) and 24 patients in the GA group (34.8%) experienced POD (p = 0.020). Interpretation: These results suggest that SA may be superior to GA in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery as SA is associated with less impairment of the melatonin rhythm and sleep patterns, and fewer POD occurrences.

We read with interest the recent editorial by B os et al. [1] on the perils of premature phenotyping in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The authors concluded that a normal compliance variant of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) does not exist, based on two small cohort studies reporting low respiratory system compliance in COVID-19 patients [2, 3]. However, this assumption may be erroneous, as, first, the admission and intubation thresholds are highly variable across units, resulting in marked heterogeneity. Secondly, several studies demonstrate that a high proportion of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients exhibit near-normal lung compliance [4–6].