XXXX abuse in intensive care medicine.

@entity1 @entity2313 @entity551 @entity3126
@entity2313 is a much abused and expensive drug in intensive care units. One of the motivations for its use is the prevention of @entity3126 by enhancing the @entity551 ( @entity551 ). Fear of @entity3126 has led to the formation of a magic (arbitrary) @entity2313 value varying from one intensive care unit to another. Many intensive care units start substituting @entity2313 when it is below 25 g/l. The objective of this paper is to look at the rationale of this policy. Our results show that in intensive care @entity1 , with a variety of primary diagnoses, a poor correlation exists between @entity551 and serum @entity2313 concentration (r = 0.56; p less than 0.001). To get an index of the colloid osmotic status of the I. C.- @entity1 measuring @entity2313 concentration is useless and @entity551 should be measured instead. From 19 @entity1 with a @entity551 in the 15.0-20.0 mmHg range (corresponding @entity2313 range: 12.0-25.0 g/l) and from 10 @entity1 with a @entity551 in the 11.6-15.0 mmHg range (corresponding @entity2313 range 10.5-19.2 g/l) none developed @entity3126 . It is questionable if expensive, scarce @entity2313 is the drug of choice with which to increase @entity551 , for the mean increase (+/- SD) in @entity551 after infusion of 100 grams @entity2313 is 2.2 (+/- 1.5) mmHg (p less than 0.001). Adopting a @entity551 action level of 15 mmHg can lead to considerable savings.
