Handbook of Critical and Intensive Care Medicine

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

   PDF

2. Approach to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 1-10

3. The Basics of Critical Care

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 11-45

4. Cardiovascular Disorders

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 47-84

5. Endocrinologic Disorders

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 85-111

6. Environmental Disorders

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 113-136

7. Gastrointestinal Disorders

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 137-148

8. Hematologic Disorders

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 149-169

9. Infectious Diseases

   • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

   Pages 171-190

10. Neurologic Disorders

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 191-207

11. Nutrition

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 209-227

12. Critical Care Oncology

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 229-248

13. Critical Care of the Pregnant Patient

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 249-265

14. Pulmonary Disorders

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 267-295

15. Renal and Fluid–Electrolyte Disorders

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 297-333

16. Special Techniques

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 335-353

17. Toxicology

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 355-374

18. Trauma

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 375-391

19. Allergic and Immunologic Emergencies

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 393-397

20. Pharmacologic Agents Commonly Used in the ICU

    • Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

    Pages 399-406

Why write a book on the management of critically ill patients? Over the past few decades we have seen an enormous growth in the number of intensive care units (ICU) across the world. Indeed, it is estimated that a large proportion of health care expenses are devoted to patients in these specialized units. Medical students, r- idents, fellows, attending physicians, critical care nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and other health-care providers (irrespective of their ultimate ?eld of pr- tice) will spend several months or years of their professional lives taking care of critically ill or severely injured patients. These clinicians must have special tra- ing, experience, and competence in managing complex problems in their patients. Moreover, these clinicians must interpret data obtained by many kinds of monitoring devices, and they must integrate this information with their knowledge of the pat- physiology of disease. Even more important is the fact that anyone working in an ICU or with a critically ill patient must approach patients with a multidisciplinary team. The phrase there is no I in TEAM comes to mind.

• Critical care
• ICU
• Trauma
• hemodynamics
• infectious diseases
• intensive care medicine
• intensivist
• mechanical ventilation
• pregnant patient

From the reviews of the second edition: “This pocket manual, written in outline format, summarizes many of the key principles and formulas important in the intensive care unit. … Practitioners at all levels may benefit from this work, but … the most appropriate audience would be new critical care physicians arriving in the ICU with background training in physiology. … This handbook is a worthy introduction to ICU practice for novices who have had previous clinical rotation experience and training in physiology.” (David J. Dries, Doody’s Review Service, February, 2010)

• Dorrington Medical Associates, P.A., Houston, U.S.A.

  Joseph Varon, Pilar Acosta

Policies and ethics