title: Major publications in the critical care pharmacotherapy literature: February 2012 through February 2013.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent impactful additions to the professional literature on the role of pharmacotherapy in treating the critically ill are summarized.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An unusually large number of updated practice guidelines and other publications with broad critical care pharmacotherapy ramifications appeared in the primary biomedical literature during the designated review period (February 2012-February 2013). Hundreds of relevant articles were evaluated by the Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Literature Update group (CCPLU), a national group of pharmacists who routinely monitor 25 peer-reviewed journals for emerging evidence that pertains to rational medication use in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. From among those articles, 64 were summarized for dissemination to CCPLU members; the 8 publications deemed to have the greatest utility for critical care practitioners, as determined by CCPLU through a voting process, were selected for inclusion in this review, with preference given to evidence meeting high standards of methodological quality. The summaries presented here include (1) important new recommendations on management of pain, agitation, and delirium in critically ill patients, (2) a comprehensive update of a practice guideline issued in 2008 by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, (3) novel strategies for the prevention and/or treatment of hyperglycemia in critical care, and (4) reports on clinical trials of promising alternative methods of sedation for use in weaning patients from mechanical ventilation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review provides synopses of practice guidelines and other recent additions to the professional literature pertaining to rational medication use in the ICU practice setting.
authors.affiliation: Charles J Turck, Pharm.D., BCPS, is President and Chief Executive Officer, ScientiaCME, LLC, Mission Viejo, CA. Erin Frazee, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Critical Care Clinical Pharmacist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Bridgette Kram, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist, Critical Care, Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC. Mitchell J. Daley, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Critical Care, Seton Health Care Family, Austin, TX. Sarah A. Day, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist, Critical Care, Doctors Hospital, OhioHealth, Columbus. Deanna Horner, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Regional Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Vanguard Health Chicago, Chicago, IL. Christine Lesch, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacy Manager, Neurology ICU, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Medical Center, New York, NY. Jessica M. Mercer, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Roper St. Francis Health Care, Charleston, SC. Angela M. Plewa, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Critical Care Clinical Pharmacist, John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago, IL. Peter Herout, Pharm.D., BCPS, is Clinical Pharmacist, Cardinal Health, Westmont, IL.
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Turck
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frazee
authors.forename: Bridgette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kram
authors.forename: Mitchell J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Daley
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: Deanna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Horner
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lesch
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mercer
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Plewa
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Herout