Terapia intensiva e critical care

Brain dysfunction is a major clinical problem in intensive care, with potentially debilitating long-term consequences for post-ICU patients of any age. The resulting extended length of stay in the ICU and post-discharge cognitive dysfunction are now recognized as major healthcare burdens. This comprehensive clinical text provides intensivists and neurologists with a practical review of the pathophysiology of brain dysfunction and a thorough account of the diagnostic and therapeutic options available. Initial sections review the epidemiology, outcomes, relevant behavioral neurology and biological mechanisms of brain dysfunction. Subsequent sections evaluate the available diagnostic options and preventative and therapeutic interventions, with a final section on clinical encephalopathy syndromes encountered in the ICU. Each chapter is rich in illustrations, with an executive summary and a helpful glossary of terms. Brain Disorders in Critical Illness is a seminal reference for all physicians and neuroscientists interested in the care and outcome of severely ill patients.

As the cornerstone of Anesthesiology practice, airway management is a procedure frequently performed by anesthesiologists as well as emergency physicians and intensivists. Since airway devices and techniques continually change, trainees must achieve proficiency with all of the various instruments and methods, and practitioners routinely need to update their airway skills. The Difficult Airway: A Practical Guide provides practical guidelines for improving the success rates of airway managers of all specialties who use modern airway devices and techniques. The book addresses various clinical scenarios in a user-friendly format that mimics the approach clinicians encounter at educational workshops. Sections address airway devices and techniques, awake intubation, algorithms of difficult airway management, pharmacologic adjuncts useful in airway management, equipment, preoxygenation, and patient positioning strategies to ensure effective airway management. The Difficult Airway: A Practical Guide is augmented by a DVD containing video demonstrations of airway management techniques.

The Difficult Airway provides a comprehensive textual and visual coverage of how to deal with patients who have expected or unexpected difficult airways. The text begins with a description of the incidence and importance of the difficult airway and then describes the ASA Difficult Airway Algorithm created to facilitate the management of "difficult airways." The majority of the book features a comprehensive step-by-step approach to the rescue techniques listed as part of the ASA Algorithm. Noted experts in each of the techniques have been recruited by the book editors to present the information. Figures throughout the book illustrate important points and procedures. This is a wonderful resource for professionals in the health care field including anesthesiologists, intensive care physicians, emergency room physicians, nurses, and out-of-hospital first responders.

The management of pain from acute injuries is a priority in trauma care. Regional analgesic techniques are very effective at treating acute pain and are gaining in popularity as recognition of their beneficial effects on morbidity increases. Regional Anesthesia in Trauma employs multiple narrative problem-solving case scenarios that explore the use of regional anesthesia in: * Blunt chest trauma, amputations, upper and lower extremity fractures and spinal injury * Burn injury * Patients with pre-existing nerve injury and other co-morbidities * Patients at risk for compartment syndrome * Pregnant, obese, elderly and pediatric patients * Local anesthetic systemic toxicity With a focus on ultrasound-guided techniques, the reader is guided through the technical aspects of performing regional anesthesia as well as the medical and surgical considerations that influence the choice of analgesic therapy. Regional Anesthesia in Trauma is invaluable for practitioners and trainees in anesthesiology, emergency medicine and trauma surgery.

"Essentials of Critical Care Nursing: A Holistic Approach" focuses on the most common disorders and technologies encountered by a critical care nurse today. It includes enough depth to enhance the reader's full understanding of important topics and fully prepares the student for practice. The clear, concise writing style assists students in understanding the pathophysiological basis for illness and the strategies the critical care nurse uses in assessing and managing patients. This text contains information about important psychosocial concepts, legal and ethical issues, history and physical examinations, key laboratory and diagnostic tests, as well as key nursing interventions used in critical care. Each chapter contains learning objectives to help focus the reader and a case study with critical thinking study questions that guide the student's knowledge to practical application. Specially designed features appear throughout the text to assist students in providing competent and compassionate care to critically ill patients and their families: Drug Therapy tables summarize information related to the administration and monitoring of drug therapy such as adverse effects, contraindications to use, measures that should be taken before administering the drug, as well as how to monitor a patient receiving the medication; Diagnostic Tests tables present significant diagnostic test information including the purpose and method of testing, normal values, abnormal values, and nursing implications; and, The Older Patient notes, appearing within the flow of the text, highlight information related to assessing and caring for older patients in the critical care setting. It includes: Red Flag notes, also appearing throughout the text, highlight information that will help a critical care nurse recognize a serious problem or life-threatening change in a patient's condition; Collaborative Care Guides that contain outcomes and interventions and describe how the health care team works together to manage a patient's illness and minimize complications; Evidence-Based Practice Highlights that help the reader to understand the importance of research-based practice and its implications for nursing; and, Health History boxes that summarize aspects of the history that are important to explore to gain insight into the patient's current critical health problem.