Critical care Archives

Emergency room physicians moving away from lumbar puncture for headache evaluation

April 19, 2024

A new Kaiser Permanente study shows a gradual shift over time has occurred in the way emergency department physicians evaluate and diagnose sudden, severe headaches.

Blood thinners still often used to treat patients with small lung blood clots

August 2, 2023

Kaiser Permanente study finds few patients with small lung blood clots qualify for surveillance and few physicians recommend it, preferring to treat patients with blood thinners.

Better outcomes seen in people with severe aortic stenosis who have scheduled common valve procedure

April 5, 2023

New research from Kaiser Permanente finds patients who need an emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement have greater risks.

Blood clots in hospitalized patients tied to worse outcomes

November 21, 2022

A Kaiser Permanente study found the incidence of blood clots in hospitalized patients and those recently discharged has slowly been increasing over time.

National quality measurements may not accurately reflect a hospital’s surgical risks

September 13, 2022

A new Kaiser Permanente study finds the National Surgical Quality Improvement Project report falls short on estimates of a patient’s risk of developing heart problems after surgery.

Shorter wait between COVID-19 and elective surgery possible

July 19, 2022

Kaiser Permanente researchers have good news for patients, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and hospital administrators who have had to put off elective surgery because of a positive COVID-19 test. Among fully vaccinated patients, there may not be an elevated risk with surgery soon after COVID-19.

Early antibiotics for sepsis supported in new study

June 27, 2022

A large multi-hospital analysis found that early antibiotics in sepsis patients resulted in improved health outcomes for them without posing unintended consequences for others, such as expanding overall antibiotic use or worsening antibiotic resistance.

COVID-19 patients did better if they had booster vaccination

June 16, 2022

A large Kaiser Permanente analysis of COVID-19 patients confirms the value of vaccination, finding higher rates of hospitalization and advanced medical care for COVID-19 patients who were unvaccinated, were vaccinated but not boosted, or who had an additional health condition such as obesity or heart disease.

5 Questions for…Laura Myers

February 14, 2022

Kaiser Permanente research scientist and physician is helping to change the way pulmonary and critical care are provided.

Risk score assigns surgery patients to best level of preoperative counseling

November 11, 2021

A clinical decision support tool developed with predictive analytics could lead to more consistent patient preparation for elective surgery and reduce complications, according to Kaiser Permanente research published Nov. 10 in Annals of Surgery.

Risk of blood clots more than 3-fold higher in hospitalized adults with COVID-19

July 20, 2021

Kaiser Permanente study found Black patients as well as patients who had obesity, liver disease, or sepsis or other signs of infection were among those more likely to be at high risk for a blood clot.

Most stroke patients with severe symptoms could seemingly be treated at a primary stroke center

May 3, 2021

Even if emergency personnel were able to use the best stroke assessment tool available, most patients taken directly by ambulance to a comprehensive stroke center could have been treated at a primary stroke center instead, a new Kaiser Permanente study suggests.

Blood clot risk low in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients

April 5, 2021

COVID-19 patients who are not hospitalized are at low risk of developing blood clots and should not routinely be prescribed blood thinners, a new Kaiser Permanente research letter suggests.

Real-time in-hospital alerts associated with lower patient mortality

November 11, 2020

A sophisticated system that analyzes electronic data about hospital patients, identifies those at risk of deteriorating, and issues an alert to a centralized team of specially trained nurses resulted in a lower mortality rate, Kaiser Permanente researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Telehealth appointments improve follow-up care in patients with heart failure

September 24, 2020

Kaiser Permanente study is the first to compare early telehealth approach to early in-person follow-up to prevent hospital readmissions.

Emergency rooms see decrease in stroke patients after onset of COVID-19

August 11, 2020

The new Kaiser Permanente study findings support previous research that suggests fear of contracting the novel coronavirus in a medical setting may have kept people from receiving critically needed medical care.

Large decrease in hospitalized heart attack patients seen during COVID-19 pandemic

May 19, 2020

New research by Kaiser Permanente shows the weekly number of patients admitted to Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals with acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) fell to nearly half of what would be expected after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 clinical studies ramp up quickly at Kaiser Permanente Northern California

April 28, 2020

In the race to find safe and effective treatments for seriously ill patients with COVID-19, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) is enrolling patients in nationwide clinical trials and pursuing other innovative treatment options.

Population-level estimates show wide age range of adults hospitalized with COVID-19

April 24, 2020

A JAMA study, using data on patients hospitalized in March from all 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals, is one of the first U.S. studies to look at overall hospitalization admissions of COVID-19 patients.

Investigator pursues compelling questions about a poorly understood killer of hospital patients

January 30, 2020

Kaiser Permanente physician-researcher Vincent Liu, MD, MS, is involved in 3 different studies on sepsis with $4 million in funding from federal and foundation sources.

Research Spotlight

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