Do biomarkers increase detection of active smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in critically ill patients?
The combination of serum cotinine and urine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol identified considerably more active smokers than did smoking history and detected a high prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure in a critically ill population. These markers will be important for future studies investigating the relationship between active smoking and secondhand smoke exposure and critical illness.
In conclusion, we found no diurnal differences in 30-day mortality for severely injured trauma patients.