The ICU book

Basic science review: circulatory blood flow; respiratory gas transport; the threat of oxidant injury. Standard practices in patient care: vascular access; the indwelling vascular catheter; protecting the gastrointestinal mucosa; thromboprophylaxis; analgesia, sedation and paralysis. Haemodynamic monitoring: arterial blood pressure monitoring; the pulmonary artery catheter; cardiac filling pressures; thermodilution cardiac output; the clinical evaluation of tissue oxygenation. Disorders of the circulatory blood flow: hypovolemia; methods of fluid resuscitation; heart failure(s); circulatory arrest; haemodynamic drugs. Acute disorders: acute myocardial infraction; cardiac dysrhythmias. Acute respiratory failure: the evaluation of hypoxemia and hypercapnia; oximetry and capnography; acute respiratory distress syndrome; oxygen inhalation therapy; respiratory pharmacotherapy. Mechanical ventilation: principles of mechanical ventilation; patterns of assisted ventilation.

Paperback

This revised edition provides the basic skills needed to solve common problems confronted in any intensive care unit. Offering a problem-solving approach, the focus of the text is on the fundamental principles generic to all intensive care functions and to mimic the actual approach to patient care in the ICU. Clinical tips are included to provide the techniques, calculations, treatments, indications, drug dosages, and clinical insights that critical care professionals need to survive in the ICU. New chapters in this second edition include: neurologic crisis; AIDS; myocardial infraction; and postoperative management.