THE ESICM GUIDELINES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The ESICM has published since 1990 original material gathered by Sections, working and research groups as well as manuscripts written in collaboration with other international associations. These manuscripts have been published in majority in the ESICM/ESPNIC official journal Intensive Care Medicine They are classified by topic of interests.

Quality Indicators for the care of the critically ill patients  
In the last years, the approach to quality management has become more professional in the medical community due to the translation of methodology from other areas to health care. One of the most important factors common to virtually all quality management approaches is that quality must be made measurable which gives the "conditio sine qua non" to manage it. Therefore, we are most grateful to the Spanish Society of Intensive Care Medicine and Coronary Care Units (SEMICYUC) for their tremendous effort to describe more than 100 quality indicators for the care of critically ill patients out of which 20 indicators are considered fundamental and should be followed in every critical care scenario.

The whole document (English version) can be downloaded from the SEMICYUC website. The document might stimulate discussions on national and international programmes to assure highest quality when caring for critically ill patients.

ICU organisation 

Guidelines for the pre-hospital care of patients with severe head injuries   

 (ESICM Working group on Neurosurgical intensive care) Vol 24(11): 1221-1225, 1998 - 53 KB

Organisation of intensive care units in Europe: Lessons from the EPIC study

(Vol 23: 1181-1184, 1997 - Vincent JL et at.)

Recommendations on minimal requirements for intensive care departments    

 (ESICM Task Force) Short version: Vol 23(2): 226-232, 1997 - Extended version: unpublished - 66 KB

Continuous quality improvement in the ICU: General guidelines    

 (ESICM Task Force) Vol 23(1): 1-3, 1997 - 49 KB

Guidelines for a training programme in intensive care medicine    

 (ESICM/ESPIC) Vol 22(2): 166-172, 1996 - 343 KB

Guidelines for the utilisation of intensive care units   

 Vol 20 (2): 163-164, 1994 - 93 KB

Guidelines for training in intensive care medicine   

 Vol 20(1): 80-81, 1994 - 96 KB

Recommendations for intra-hospital transport of the severely head injured patient   

 (ESICM Working group on Neurosurgical intensive care) Vol 25(12): 1441-1443, 1999 - 94 KB

Education and Training   

Intensive care training and speciality status in Europe: International comparisons   

 (ESICM Task Force on Educational issues) Vol 24(4): 372-377, 1998 - 183 KB

Intensive care medicine in Europe - structure, organisation and training guidelines of the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee of Intensive Care Medicine (MJCICM) of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS)   

 (S De Lange, H Van Aken, H Burchardi) Vol 28(11): 1505-1511, 2002 - 120 KB

Ethics 

The European Union Directive on Clinical Research: present status of implementation in EU member states' legislations with regard to the incompetent patient    

 Vol 31(3): 476-479, 2005 - 112 KB

End-of-Life decisions in European intensive care units: The ETHICUS study   

(ESICM Working group on Ethics) Part I Vol 23(3): 338-341, 1997 - 60 KB

Informed consent for research purposes in intensive care patients in Europe   

 Part II Vol 23(4): 435-439, 1997 - 62 KB

European attitudes towards ethical problems in intensive care medicine   

 Vol 16: 256-264, 1990 - 520 KB

Cardiovascular Dynamics 

PA catheterization : Quo vadis? Do we have to change the current practice with this monitoring device?   

 (ESICM Working Group on Clinical Physiological Monitoring) Vol 23(6): 605-609, 1997 - 69 KB

Infection 

European Task Force on ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)   

(ERS/ESICM/ESCMID/ESA) Eur Respir J. 2001 May;17(5):1034-45
PMID: 11488306 (PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE)  

Metabolism, Endocrinology, Nephrology and Nutrition 

Metabolic basis of nutrition in ICU patients: 10 critical questions   

 (ESICM Working group on Nutrition) Vol 28(11): 1512-1520, 2002 - 69 KB

Does nutritional support affect the outcome of critically ill patients?   

 (ESICM Working group on Nutrition and Metabolism) Vol 28(11): 1512-1520, 2002 - 69 KB

Management of nutrition in European intensive care units: Results of a questionnaire   

 (ESICM Working group on Nutrition) Vol 25(1): 95-101, 1999 - 77 KB

Enteral nutrition in intensive care patients: A practical approach   

  (ESICM Working group on Nutrition and Metabolism) Vol 24(8): 848-859, 1998 - 238 KB

Nutritional papers in ICU patients: what lies between the lines?   

(ESICM Working Group on Nutrition and Metabolism) Vol 29(2): 156-166, 2003 [KB] 

Nursing 

A profile of European ICU nursing   

 (ESICM Section on Nursing) Vol 24(9): 939-345, 1998 - 607 KB

Sepsis 

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines for the management of severe sepsis ad septic shock:   Background, recommendations, and discussion from an evidence-based review. A supplement to Critical Care Medicine Vol 32 (11): S445-S597, 2004 

Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines for management of severe sepsis and septic shock   

 Vol 30(5): 536-555, 2004 - 273 KB

2001 SCCM/ESICM/ACCP/ATS/SIS: International Sepsis Definitions Conference   

 (ESICM Section on Sepsis) Vol 29(4): 530-538, 2003 - 175 KB

A European survey of the use of inhaled nitric oxide in the ICU   

 (ESICM Working group on Inhaled NO) Vol 24(8): 864-877, 1998 - 487 KB

The SOFA (Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment) score to describe organ dysfunction/failure   

 (ESICM Working group on Sepsis-related problems) Vol 22(7): 707-710, 1996 - 224 KB

The problem of sepsis   

  (ESICM Task Force) Vol 20(4): 300-304, 1994 - 322 KB