Pittsburgh Critical Care Medicine

Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) is the standard of care for management of critically ill patients with acute renal failure. Part of the Pittsburgh Critical Care series, Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy provides concise, evidence-based, bedside guidance about this treatment modality, offering quick reference answers to clinicians' questions about treatments and situations encountered in daily practice. Organized into sections on theory, practice, special situations, and organizational issues, this volume provides a complete view of CRRT theory and practice. Tables summarize and highlight key points, and key studies and trials are included in each chapter. The second edition has been updated to include a new chapter on the use of biomarkers to aid in patient selection and timing, extensive revisions on terminology and nomenclature to match current standards, and the most up-to-date information on newly developed CRRT machines.Less

Patients with acute critical illness are often cared for initially in the emergency department (ED), and the beginning actions can help alter outcomes hours, day and months later. This resource targets selected common or high risk critical condition or therapies needed to optimize ED care, using the newest research and experiences, and chapters are organized in a readable and user-friendly format, with each describing the topic, defining key terms, cutting edge and controversial aspects, and delivering pragmatic advice.Less

ICU Care of Abdominal Organ Transplant Patients provides a concise resource for intensivists, surgeons, and nurses caring for abdominal organ transplant patients before and after surgery. In a concise, practical style, the authors offer concrete solutions to questions and situations confronted by ICU clinicians. Chapters address general principles of immunosuppression, infectious complications, management, and nursing considerations, plus indications, approach to anesthesia, transplant procedure, and post-operative care for liver, kidney, pancreas, islet cell, and small bowel and multivisceral transplantation.Less

Mechanical Ventilation—Physiology and Practice provides a comprehensive review of the physiological principles underlying mechanical ventilation, as well as practical approaches to the management of patients with respiratory failure. The book explains instrumentation and terminology, ventilator modes and breath types, ventilator alarms, how to write ventilator orders, and how to diagnose and correct patient–ventilator asynchrony. It also discusses the physiological assessment of the mechanically ventilated patient and the diagnosis and management of dynamic hyperinflation, and describes how to manage patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), severe obstructive lung disease, and right ventricular failure; how to “wean” patients from the ventilator; and how and when to use noninvasive ventilation.Less

Neurocritical Care provides “at the bedside” guidance on the medical knowledge and technical skills required to care for critically ill patients with neurologic conditions such as cerebrovascular disorders, neurotrauma, neuro-oncology, refractory seizures, neuromuscular diseases, infections, alterations in consciousness, and perioperative neurosurgical care. It provides information on the clinical conditions, basic and advanced neuro-monitoring, and addresses some unique special populations. Part of the Pittsburgh Critical Care Medicine series, this compact volume is an ideal reference for physicians and trainees working in either a general intensive care unit or specialty neurointensive care unit. Readers will gain an understanding of background knowledge and concrete solutions to questions and situations encountered in daily practice.Less

Pediatric Intensive Care offers providers of critical care to children, from trainees to experienced clinicians, a concise, easy-to-carry resource on pediatric critical care medicine. It is designed for frequent and quick reference at the bedside, providing solutions to questions and situations encountered in practice. The 20 chapters are written by authorities in the field and include citations of some of the most essential references for further reading on each topic. The chapters cover key elements of the practice of pediatric critical care medicine, from cardiopulmonary resuscitation, monitoring, and procedures to extracorporeal life support, sedation and analgesia, and end of life care. Etiology and treatment of all types of organ failure are presented, as are chapters on toxicological emergencies/poisoning, critical care pharmacology, trauma, and burns. The book is sized to fit in a pocket, includes access to electronic, web-based content, and contains focused text, bulleted lists, tables, and figures. The book facilitates the delivery of critical care by residents, fellows, generalists in settings where critical care expertise is not readily available, and practicing intensivists.Less

This handbook provides a practical approach to the evaluation, differential diagnosis, and management of common medical and surgical emergencies such as cardiac arrest, acute respiratory failure, seizures, and hemorrhagic shock occurring in hospitalized patients. Less common and special circumstances such as pediatric, obstetric, oncologic, neurologic, and behavioral emergencies as well as palliative care for terminally ill patients encountered in the context of rapid response team (RRT) events are also discussed. An overview of commonly performed bedside emergency procedures by rapid response team members complements the clinical resources that may need to be brought to bear during the course of the rapid response team event. Finally, an overview of organization, leadership, communication, quality, and patient safety surrounding rapid response team events is provided. This book is written with medical students, junior physicians, and nursing staff in mind working in both academic and community hospital settings. Both a novice and an experienced healthcare provider involved in a rapid response system (RRS) will find this handbook to be a valuable supplement to the clinical experiences gained through active engagement in the system. Hospital administrators and senior management staff will also find this book to be useful in the evaluation of quality and performance of the rapid response system, management of staff attitudes and behavior, performance of peer review, care for second victims, and implementation of countermeasures for patient safety problems discovered in the course of rapid response system reviews.Less

Metabolic and electrolyte disorders can pose special challenges to physicians caring for the critically ill patients. Constrained by time and circumstances, clinicians require rapid access to information to help assess and manage these often life-threatening conditions. This resource presents an easy-to-use roadmap, emphasizing the interactions among problems and suggesting clear lines of action. Keeping the physiopathological mechanisms to the essential, and maintaining an uncluttered format, each chapter provides guidelines to understanding "how did we get here" and "what should we do now", as quickly and safely as possible. Chapters describe clinical presentation and management of the most common renal, electrolyte, acid-base, metabolic and endocrine disorders, complicating the course of critically ill patients. Less

This resource is for intensivisits involved in the care of trauma patients to help them implement best care practices for trauma victims in the intensive care unit. It coverse management priorities for trauma patients in the ICU, the use of monitors and drains in trauma patients, resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock, massive transfusions and coagulopathy, ventilator management of trauma patients including patients with chest trauma, as well as management ICU strategies and solutions for specific types of trauma, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and burn management.Less