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Gastrointestinal Complications and Their Management After Adult Cardiac Surgery

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Postoperative Critical Care for Adult Cardiac Surgical Patients

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Abstract

Gastrointestinal complications (GICs) following cardiac surgery are often severe and contribute to substantial morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of GICs remains difficult because symptoms and signs are often subtle, or nonspecific, and this commonly leads to delay in definitive diagnosis and treatment. Preventive strategies, coupled with early recognition and aggressive management, provide the foundation of the general clinical approach to addressing these complications. Overall, a high index of clinical suspicion and a low threshold for investigation and definitive management are recommended in patients with nonroutine clinical progress after cardiac surgery. It is imperative that all clinicians who care for postoperative cardiac surgical patients be familiar with the full spectrum of potential GICs in this patient population, as well as the general therapeutic approaches to these complications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Program, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USA

    Jamel Ortoleva M.D.

  2. Critical Care-Anesthesiology Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward A. Bittner M.D., Ph.D., M.S.Ed.

  3. Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward A. Bittner M.D., Ph.D., M.S.Ed.

  4. Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward A. Bittner M.D., Ph.D., M.S.Ed.

Authors
  1. Jamel Ortoleva M.D.
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  2. Edward A. Bittner M.D., Ph.D., M.S.Ed.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edward A. Bittner M.D., Ph.D., M.S.Ed. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Shahid Beheshti Univ Med Sci, Sa'adat Abad, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Dabbagh

  2. Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Fardad Esmailian

  3. Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Sary Aranki

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Ortoleva, J., Bittner, E.A. (2018). Gastrointestinal Complications and Their Management After Adult Cardiac Surgery. In: Dabbagh, A., Esmailian, F., Aranki, S. (eds) Postoperative Critical Care for Adult Cardiac Surgical Patients. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75747-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75747-6_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75746-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75747-6

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