Principles and Practice of Critical Care

Principles and Practice of Critical Care is a comprehensive reference work by three experienced editors: an intensivist, a cardiothoracic surgeon and an anaesthetist. Together they have compiled 69 chapters--from a wide range of internationally acclaimed experts from Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States--to cover the entire subject of critical-care medicine. This text embodies currently accepted and worldwide standards of critical care. Throughout, the emphasis is on the practical aspects of multiple organ system support, which is generally applicable to the entire range of disease processes in the critically-ill patient. Principles and Practice of Critical Care is first divided into sections covering each organ system. Then special problems and procedures are discussed, including postoperative care and critical-care unit management. Each chapter considers acute system failure in detail: how it is recognised clinically; its underlying pathophysiology; monitoring the course of organ system failure; and principles and methods of physiological, pharmacological and mechanical support of the failing system. Principles and Practice of Critical Care is the largest and most comprehensive work on the subject of critical care.