Emilio Rodríguez-Ruiz

University Clinic Hospital of Santiago de Compostela

Purpose To describe the way patients die in a Spanish ICU, and how the modes of death have changed in the last 10 years. Materials and methods Retrospective observational study evaluating all patients who died in a Spanish tertiary ICU over a 10-year period. Modes of death were classified as death despite maximal support (D-MS), brain death (BD),...

Background Engaging relatives in the care of critically ill patients is associated with better outcomes. It is crucial to empower relatives to provide feedback. Valid satisfaction instruments are essential to identify best practices and areas for improvement. Aim The aim of the study was to adapt the Spanish version of the EMpowerment of PArents i...

Objective To assess moral distress (MD) among Spanish critical care healthcare professionals (HCPs). Design Cross-sectional, prospective study. Setting ICUs in Spain. Participants HCPs currently working in Spanish ICUs. Interventions A 55-item questionnaire was electronically distributed. Main variables The questionnaire included work-related...

Key-points: - Different visiting policies impact on family satisfaction in ICUs before and during COVID19. - Family satisfaction outcomes can support strategies to reopen ICUs to families and improve family-centred care practices.

Objectives: To assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on moral distress (MD) among healthcare professionals (HCPs) (physicians and nurses) in Spanish ICUs. Design: Cross-sectional, prospective study. Setting: ICUs in Spain. Participants: HCPs currently working in Spanish ICUs. Interventions: Data were collected via electronic survey with t...

The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) has developed evidence-based recommendations and expert opinions about end-of-life (EoL) and palliative care for critically ill adults to optimize patient-centered care, improving outcomes of relatives, and supporting intensive care unit (ICU) staff in delivering compassionate and effective Eo...

The genetic basis of severe COVID-19 has been thoroughly studied, and many genetic risk factors shared between populations have been identified. However, reduced sample sizes from non-European groups have limited the discovery of population-specific common risk loci. In this second study nested in the SCOURGE consortium, we conducted a genome-wide...

Background There is currently no practice-based, multicenter database of poisoned patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). The INTOXICATE study, endorsed by the ESICM and EAPCCT, aimed to determine the rate of eventful admissions among acutely intoxicated adult ICU patients. Methods Ethical approval was obtained for this multicenter, pros...

The genetic basis of severe COVID-19 has been thoroughly studied, and many genetic risk factors shared between populations have been identified. However, reduced sample sizes from non-European groups have limited the discovery of population-specific common risk loci. In this second study nested in the SCOURGE consortium, we conducted a GWAS for COV...

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal...

The genetic basis of severe COVID-19 has been thoroughly studied and many genetic risk factors shared between populations have been identified. However, reduced sample sizes from non-European groups have limited the discovery of population-specific common risk loci. In this second study nested in the SCOURGE consortium, we have conducted the larges...

The genetic basis of severe COVID-19 has been thoroughly studied and many genetic risk factors shared between populations have been identified. However, reduced sample sizes from non-European groups have limited the discovery of population-specific common risk loci. In this second study nested in the SCOURGE consortium, we have conducted the larges...

Objectives Our aims were to explore current intubation practices in Spanish ICUs to determine the incidence and risk factors of peri-intubation complications (primary outcome measure: major adverse events), the rate and factors associated with first-pass success, and their impact on mortality as well as the changes of the intubation procedure obser...

Ischemic gastropathy is highly infrequent in daily medical practice and only very few cases have been described in the literature. We present a case of gastroparesis with digestive intolerance and candidemia secondary to gastric ischemia in a 52-year-old neurocritical patient admitted to the ICU for a brain hemorrhage. The patient had significant r...

A 30-year-old woman presented to the Emergency Department for abdominal pain. During her admission, psychiatric alterations, hyponatremia, and arterial hypertension were observed. Multiple tests were carried out with negative results, including a determination of an enzyme which is decreased in 95% of the cases of acute intermittent porphyria. The...

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common and potentially fatal disease with a variable clinical presentation, ranging from an asymptomatic to an unstable and life-threatening clinical presentation. From a pathophysiological point of view, the weak link is the right heart. Right ventricle (RV) failure can have an early or late onset and has a high...

Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. SAH results from bleeding into the cerebrospinal fluid-filled cisterns between the arachnoid and pia mater. SAH produces a severe, sudden-onset headache that immediately reaches maximal intensity that may be associated with other symptoms and signs. A prompt...

Background Early mobilisation (EM) is an intervention that may improve the outcome of critically ill patients. There is limited data on EM in COVID-19 patients and its use during the first pandemic wave. Methods This is a pre-planned subanalysis of the ESICM UNITE-COVID, an international multicenter observational study involving critically ill COV...

Investigating the role of host genetic factors in COVID-19 severity and susceptibility can inform our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms that influence adverse outcomes and drug development1,2. Here we present a second updated genome-wide association study (GWAS) on COVID-19 severity and infection susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 fro...

Investigating the role of host genetic factors in COVID-19 severity and susceptibility can inform our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms that influence adverse outcomes and drug development. Here we present a second updated genome-wide association study (GWAS) on COVID-19 severity and infection susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 from t...

In critical care medicine, where there is a demanding career with a problematic work-life balance, mentoring is an important support tool to grow professionally, creating a network of support throughout the career. The mentoring process consists of evidence-based steps to guide critical care mentors and mentees and pair them with each other accordi...

Despite the high contagion and mortality rates that have accompanied the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, the clinical presentation of the syndrome varies greatly from one individual to another. Potential host factors that accompany greater risk from COVID-19 have been sought and schizophrenia (SCZ) patients seem to present more severe C...

Background The brand-new anti-choking devices (LifeVac® and DeCHOKER®) have been recently developed to treat Foreign Body Airway Obstruction (FBAO). However, the scientific evidence around these devices that are available to the public is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the ability to use the LifeVac® and DeCHOKER® devices in an adul...

Critical illness in COVID-19 is an extreme and clinically homogeneous disease phenotype that we have previously shown1 to be highly efficient for discovery of genetic associations2. Despite the advanced stage of illness at presentation, we have shown that host genetics in patients who are critically ill with COVID-19 can identify immunomodulatory t...

Investigating the role of host genetic factors in COVID-19 severity and susceptibility can inform our understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms that influence adverse outcomes and drug development. Here we present a second updated genome-wide association study (GWAS) on COVID-19 severity and infection susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 from t...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic presented major challenges for critical care facilities worldwide. Infections which develop alongside or subsequent to viral pneumonitis are a challenge under sporadic and pandemic conditions; however, data have suggested that patterns of these differ between COVID-19 and other viral pneumonitides. This secondary an...

Background Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been widely used in patients with COVID-19, but uncertainty remains about the determinants of in-hospital mortality and data on post-discharge outcomes are scarce. The aims of this study were to investigate the variables associated with in-hospital outcomes in patients who received ECMO duri...

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been widely used in patients with COVID-19, but uncertainty remains about the determinants of in-hospital mortality and data on post-discharge outcomes are scarce. The aims of this study were to investigate the variables associated with in-hospital outcomes in patients who received ECMO dur...

Following publication of the original article [1], an error was identified in the article title: COVID‑19 was incorrectly captured as COIVD‑19. The article title has been updated above and in the original article.

Objective To assess moral distress (MD) among Spanish critical care healthcare professionals (HCPs). Design Cross-sectional, prospective study. Setting ICUs in Spain. Participants HCPs currently working in Spanish ICUs. Interventions A 55-item questionnaire was electronically distributed. Main variables The questionnaire included work-related...

Here we describe the results of a genome-wide study conducted in 11 939 COVID-19 positive cases with an extensive clinical information that were recruited from 34 hospitals across Spain (SCOURGE consortium). In sex-disaggregated genome-wide association studies for COVID-19 hospitalization, genome-wide significance (p < 5x10−8) was crossed for varia...

Purpose: To accommodate the unprecedented number of critically ill patients with pneumonia caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) expansion of the capacity of intensive care unit (ICU) to clinical areas not previously used for critical care was necessary. We describe the global burden of COVID-19 admissions and the clinical and organization...

There is limited scientific evidence on the brand-new suction anti-choking devices as alternative or complementary tools for the treatment of foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO). However, they are already available in some public places. With the hypothesis that laypersons would not use them properly we have carried out the present simulation st...

Objective: To describe the most frequent complications and causes of death of COVID-19 patients requiring extracorporeal respiratory support. Methods: Descriptive analysis of the ECMOVIBER reg- istry, including 25 ECMO centers in Spain (23) and Portugal (2). All adult (>18 years old) COVID-19 patients requiring veno-venous ECMO between 1st st March...

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are non-enzymatic modifications of proteins and lipids, which are spontaneously produced in the body in relation with several human diseases. Their relevance on protein functions alteration, either structural or enzymatic is under study, but their value as biomarkers or predictors of disease progression and cl...

Background In view of the high mortality rate of immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), it is important to identify targets for improvement. Research question This study investigated factors associated with mortality in this specific ARDS population, including factors related to respiratory mechanics (plateau p...

Objectives: To describe how children currently die in Spanish PICUs, their epidemiologic characteristics and clinical diagnoses. Design: Prospective multicenter observational study. Setting: Eighteen PICUs participating in the MOdos de Morir en UCI Pediátrica-2 (MOMUCI-2) study in Spain. Patients: Children 1 to 16 years old who died in PICU duri...

Introduction and objectives: Bystander assistance is decisive to enhance the outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Despite an increasing number of basic life support (BLS) training methods, the most effective formula remains undefined. To identify a gold standard, we performed a systematic review describing reported BLS training methods for...

Introducción y objetivos La asistencia de los testigos es decisiva para mejorar los resultados de la parada cardiaca extrahospitalaria. Pese al número creciente de métodos de formación en soporte vital básico (SVB), la fórmula más efectiva no está definida. Esta revisión sistemática pretende describir los posibles métodos de entrenamiento en SVB pa...

Traumatic tracheobronchial injuries occur in 1% of patients with thoracic trauma, most of them dying at the site of the trauma. In this case report, we present a 26-year-old female patient admitted to the ICU due to a blunt chest trauma causing life threatening hypoxaemia and acidosis; deciding to implant percutaneous venovenous extracorporeal memb...

Paediatric cardiorespiratory arrest is a rare event that requires a fast, quality intervention. High-quality chest compressions are an essential prognostic factor. The aim of this prospective, randomized and crossover study in infant manikin 2-min cardiorespiratory resuscitation scenario is to quantitatively compare the quality of the currently rec...

Traumatic tracheobronchial injuries occur in 1% of patients with thoracic trauma, most of them dying at the site of the trauma. In this case report, we present a 26-year-old female patient admitted to the ICU due to a blunt chest trauma causing life threatening hypoxaemia and acidosis; deciding to implant percutaneous venovenous extracorporeal memb...

INTRODUCTION. Early administration of appropriate empirical antibiotic therapy has been shown to reduce the morbidity and mortality in severe infections. Nowadays, in the context of increased antibiotic resistance, clinicians who treat critically ill patients at risk of multidrug resistant bacteria (MDRB) infections initiate broad-spectrum antibiot...

Background: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a result of non-enzymatic glycation of proteins and lipids, which can attach to either their cell surface receptor (RAGE) or its soluble form (sRAGE). Evidence exists for the implication of AGE-RAGE axis in sepsis, but data are still insufficient and conflicting. We aimed to analyse the kineti...

Objetivos: Describir la morbimortalidad de los pacientes colonizados y/o infectados por Klebsiella productora de carbapenemasas.Métodos: Estudio prospectivo, descriptivo. Se incluyen todos los pa‑cientes colonizados/infectados por Klebsiella productora de carbapene‑masas en una UCI del C.H.U. de Santiago de Compostela desde el 1/1/2016 hasta 30/11/...

Objetivos: Estudiar la capacidad predictiva de los factores de riesgo para descartar la presencia de bacterias multirresistentes al ingreso en UCI. Métodos: Estudio prospectivo de todos los pacientes ingresados en la UCI del H. de Conxo del C.H.U. de Santiago de Compostela entre el 1/7/2017 y 30/11/2018. Se analizan todos los factores asociados a a...

Objective To compare the quality of chest compressions performed according to the classical technique (MT) vs. a new technique (NM) (compression with 2 thumbs with closed fists) in an infant manikin. Design A controlled, randomized cross-over study was carried out in professionals assisting pediatric patients. Setting A University Hospital with a...

INTRODUCTION. Sepsis has been shown to trigger atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common sustained arrhythmia in critically ill. A growing body of evidence indicates that inflammation and oxidative stress contribute to its pathogenesis. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs), stable products generated by non-enzymatic glycation of proteins and lipi...

809 Liver Transplants (LT) were made at Hospital Clínico Universitario of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in the period 1994-2014, accounting 4.25% of all LT performed in Spain. Review of the impact of the Donor´s Age on the Survival of Graft and Recipient in 20 years of experience in our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Retrospective and descriptive...

Objective To analyse the acute muscular fatigue (AMF) in triceps brachii and rectus abdominis during compression-only and standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed by certified basic life support providers. Methods Twenty-six subjects were initially recruited and randomly allocated to two study groups according to the muscles analysed...