Hepatic Critical Care

Critical Care Issues After Major Hepatic Surgery

Advances in critical care management of hepatic failure and insufficiency.

BACKGROUND Chronic liver disease is becoming an increasingly frequent diagnosis for patients in the intensive care setting with such diagnoses as symptomatic ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, or fulminant hepatic failure. OBJECTIVE To review frequent diagnoses for patients with chronic liver disease admitted to the intensive care unit and discuss current concep...

Critical Care Neurology and Neuro Critical Care

CRITICAL CARE/RESPIRATORY CARE Corticosteroid Replacement in Critical Illness

Intensivists routinely administer glucocorticoids, which are potent anti-inflammatory, immune, metabolic, and adrenergic modulating compounds at physiologic and pharmacologic doses. Recent investigations report increasing recognition of relative or absolute adrenal insufficiency in critically ill patients and the impact of cortisol responsiveness as a predictor of outcome for the critically ill...

Clinical review: Critical care transport and austere critical care

The development of modern intensive care units (ICUs) has allowed the survival of patients with advanced illness and injury, although at a cost of substantial infrastructure. Natural disasters and military operations are two common situations that can create critically ill patients in an environment that is austere or has been rendered austere. This has driven the development of two related str...