Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Prevalence It is estimated that 80 million people worldwide and up to 10% of the U.S. population have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (World Health Organization…
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common clinical problem characterized by the deposition and embolization of a venous clot. Collectively, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and PE are referred to as venous…
The provision of intensive care during transport to and from the intensive care unit (ICU) presents a major challenge. Available data suggest that critical care transport is becoming increasingly common,…
Obesity is a chronic metabolic condition with important public health implications. It has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality from acute and chronic medical problems including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases,…
There has been a dramatic reawakening of interest in therapeutic hypothermia (TH) since the dawn of the twenty-first century as a consequence of the publication of a series of clinical…
First described in the 1970s, stress-related mucosal damage (SMRD) was once considered a common complication of critical illness. However, it is now questionable whether the early descriptive work on the…
Before 2001, the hyperglycemia found in most critically ill patients was considered to be a component of the stress response. Current understanding was completely changed by the publication of the…
Body temperature is a fundamental physiologic parameter that is altered by several pathologic processes. Abnormal or altered body temperature is a key to aid in diagnosis and is often a…
Many critically ill patients are hypovolemic, which may result in impaired cardiac output and organ perfusion, leading to poor outcome. Therefore fluid therapy is a mainstay in the resuscitation of…
Implicit in any attempt to optimize the circulation are two key issues. First, it is important to identify those measures or parameters that constitute the most appropriate treatment options. Second,…
