New tool helps doctors better predict, prevent deadly respiratory failure after surgery, multicenter study says
Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - 12:02
in Health & Medicine
A new prediction tool can help doctors better identify patients who are at highest risk for respiratory failure after surgery and therefore prevent the often deadly condition, suggest data from a large multi-center study. The prediction tool could help doctors assign risk levels to patients by determining if they have one or more of nine predictors identified as most associated with the development of ARDS: blood infection (sepsis), liver disease, high-risk surgery on the heart or aorta, emergency surgery, admission from a location other than home, an increased respiratory rate, and two measures that show the patient has lower-than-normal oxygen levels in the blood.