OBJECTIVES: Joblessness is common in survivors from critical care. Our aim was to describe rates of return to work versus unemployment following coronavirus disease 2019 acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring intensive care admission. DESIGN: Single-center, prospective case series. SETTING: Critical Care Follow-Up Clinic, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center—IRCCS, Rozzano, Italy. PATIENTS: One hundred and one consecutive laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 patients were discharged from our hospital following an ICU stay between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020. Twenty-five died in the ICU. Seventy-six were discharged alive from hospital. Two patients refused participation, while three were unreachable. The remaining 71 were alive at 6 months and interviewed. INTERVENTIONS: Baseline and outcome healthcare data were extracted from the electronic patient records. Employment data were collected using a previously published structured interview instrument that included current and previous employment status, hours worked per week, and timing of return to work. Health-related quality of life status was assessed using the Italian EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 71 interviewed patients, 45 (63%) were employed prior to coronavirus disease 2019, of which 40 (89%) of them worked full-time. Thirty-three (73%) of the previously employed survivors had returned to work by 6 months, 10 (22%) were unemployed, and 2 (5%) were newly retired. Among those who returned to work, 20 (85%) of them reported reduced effectiveness at work. Those who did not return to work were either still on sick leave or lost their job as a consequence of coronavirus disease 2019. Reported quality of life of survivors not returning to work was worse than of those returning to work. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of coronavirus disease 2019 survivors following ICU in our cohort had returned to work by 6 months of follow-up. However, most of them reported reduced work effectiveness. Prolonged sick leave and unemployment were common findings in those not returning.

Purpose A number of studies performed in the operating room evaluated the hemodynamic effects of the fluid challenge (FC), solely considering the effect before and after the infusion. Few studies have investigated the pharmacodynamic effect of the FC on hemodynamic flow and pressure variables. We designed this trial aiming at describing the pharmacodynamic profile of two different FC infusion times, of a fixed dose of 4 ml kg −1 . Methods Forty-nine elective neurosurgical patients received two consecutive FCs of 4 ml kg −1 of crystalloids in 10 (FC 10 ) or 20 (FC 20 ) minutes, in a random order. Fluid responsiveness was defined as stroke volume index increase ≥ 10%. We assessed the net area under the curve (AUC), the maximal percentage difference from baseline (d max ), time when the d max was observed (t max ), change from baseline at 1-min (d 1 ) and 5-min (d 5 ) after FC end. Results After FC 10 and FC 20, 25 (51%) and 14 (29%) of 49 patients were classified as fluid responders (p = 0.001). With the exception of the AUCs of SAP and MAP, the AUCs of all the considered hemodynamic variables were comparable. The d max and the t max were overall comparable. In both groups, the hemodynamic effects on flow variables were dissipated within 5 min after FC end. Conclusions The infusion time of FC administration affects fluid responsiveness, being higher for FC 10 as compared to FC 20 . The effect on flow variables of either FCs fades 5 min after the end of infusion. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10877-021-00756-3.