Uncertain Answers — Proton-Pump Inhibition in the ICU

A critical care clinician's job includes administering timely and tailored antibiotics, expediting appropriate surgery, supporting a patient's beleaguered body and mind until they are ready to recover, and preventing complications in this vulnerable state. This is surprisingly strenuous work, even if it is often, appropriately, protocolized. The aphorism "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" persists because it feels true. So, when trial data suggest that an ounce of prevention may actually kill you, it cuts hard against the grain — which brings us to the question of gastric acid suppression among patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in . . .