The Very Old Critically Ill Patients

This book, part of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) textbook series, provides detailed up-to-date information on the care of the critical ill very old (≥80 years) patients in the ICU. The very old are expanding fast in our populations, and this is mirrored in our hospitals and ICUs as well. During the last decade, a lot more information about the group of critical ill elderly has been published, and several large networks cooperate in performing multinational studies in this field, one of them with roots in the ESICM. This book will give readers knowledge about the current epidemiology of elderly ICU patients, in patients centered outcomes and factors affecting these outcomes. A large part is devoted to age related changes in vital organ functions, and the specific geriatric “syndromes” like frailty, cognitive decline, reduced activity of daily living, sarcopenia and immunosenecence. This is all important for the practicing intensivists to know about. In addition, specific groups of the elderly in the ICU are also described like the elderly patients with trauma or sepsis. The book is written jointly by intensivists and geriatricians, often working in teams and originating from many different countries. This herald a new era in the collaboration between these two groups in order to improve care and rehabilitation. We have a lot to learn from each other, as both groups have a holistic view of our patients although with different perspectives. This book should be of value for all working in adult ICUs, physicians as well as nurses. It will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the particular challenges posed by this important sub-group of ICU patients and how to manage his group in a way that combine respect for life as well as death and includes patients and caregivers in this process.

This book, part of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine textbook series, provides detailed up-to-date information on the physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments that are frequently present following a stay in an intensive care unit and examines in depth the available preventive and therapeutic strategies, including adapted rehabilitation programs. Beyond acquainting readers with the multiple facets of post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), the book aims to promote the effective follow-up of patients, thereby enhancing their ability to work and their functional autonomy, and to identify risk factors for the development of PICS as a stimulus to beneficial organizational changes in intensive care departments. The background to the book is the realization by healthcare providers that the quality of life of patients who have required a stay in an intensive care unit can be severely impaired or even become unacceptable. All too often, the diverse sequelae are overlooked by specialists of other disciplines. Moreover, families and caregivers are also at high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine has developed the Lessons from the ICU series with the vision of providing focused and state-of-the-art overviews of central topics in Intensive Care and optimal resources for clinicians working in Intensive Care. This book, written by renowned experts in the field, will facilitate the transmission of key knowledge with significant clinical and financial benefits.

2010 AJN Book of the Year Award Winner in Critical Care--Emergency Nursing! Designated a Doody's Core Title! "This evidence-based book is an excellent reference for ensuring high-quality management of the elderly and of their particular needs in the critical care setting." --AJN "[This] book's contents run the gamut of elder problems and care: physiology, pharmacology, nutrition, restraints, substance abuse....it is a compendium that can be used as a text or a resource." --Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN (From the Foreword) This book is an evidence-based, best-practices guide that directs the bedside care of critically ill elders. The book serves as a reference on major clinical issues for nurses working at the forefront of care-from nurses in critical care and step-down units to those in trauma and emergency departments. Nurse educators at all degree levels will also find this book to be useful as a textbook and resource for students. The authors provide evidence-based, practical guidelines for both the complex clinical and management aspects of care. The book offers comprehensive coverage of all the issues caregivers need to be up to date on, including the standards of practice for geriatric care, new technologies, pharmacotherapy, pain management issues, ethical issues, and much more. Key topics discussed: Strategies for patient safety for older patients in the intensive care setting Family responses to critical care of the older adult Infection, sepsis, and immune function Understanding and managing sleep disorders in older patients in the ICU Heart failure in the critically ill older patient Substance abuse and withdrawal in elderly patients

Surviving critical illness is not always the happy ending that we imagine for patients. Intensive care unit (ICU) teams have traditionally focused on short term goals such as stabilizing or reversing organ system dysfunction, with little understanding of what became of patients once they left the ICU. However, research conducted in recent years has demonstrated that many ICU survivors can suffer from ill health and mental health issues for months or years to follow. The Textbook of Post-ICU Medicine: The Legacy of Critical Care identifies the long term outcomes of ICU and the steps that can be taken to improve patients' health and wellbeing. Describing the major clinical syndromes affecting ICU survivors, the book delineates established or postulated biological mechanisms of the post-acute recovery process, and discusses strategies for treatment and rehabilitation to promote recovery in the ICU and in the long term. The book serves as a unique reference for general practitioners, internists and nurses caring for long term ICU survivors as well as specialists in intensive care medicine, neurology, psychiatry, and rehabilitation medicine.

This title presents key studies that have shaped the practice of critical care medicine. Selected using a rigorous methodology, the studies cover topics including: sedation and analgesia, resuscitation, shock, ARDS, nutrition, renal failure, trauma, infection, diabetes, and physical therapy

Back for a second edition, Current Surgical Guidelines has been fully updated to reflect changes in guidelines across the surgical sub-specialities since its first publication. Drawing together printed and digital guidelines from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), and relevant US guidelines, this book acts as a valuable complete and comprehensive reference for those embarking on their surgical training, revising for exams, or for senior staff as an aide-memoire. Guidelines have been distilled into summary tables, and topics are formulated to answer most real-life clinical practice questions with contemporary facts and figures, decision recommendations, and treatment options. New chapters on hernias, skin malignancies, trauma, and medicolegal practice have been added to increase fresh challenges facing the contemporary surgical trainee.

Provides coverage of the issues surrounding geriatric critical care, emphasising assessment and treatment.

This book is aimed at surgeons faced with the immediate management of acute surgical problems in a variety of resource settings. The topics covered are common in both developed and developing countries as well as in tropical and non-tropical settings. The book offers an introduction to trauma, which includes primary, secondary and tertiary surveys, trauma resuscitation, and multidisciplinary care followed by a short section on acute burns management and a discussion of a range of specific surgical topics including various of acute abdomen, upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, perianal conditions, oncological issues that require acute intervention, abdominal wall problems, urological emergencies and neck swellings. It also addresses the rational use of antibiotics and medications and the role of high dependency units. Each chapter includes a flow chart algorithm with multiple endpoints that relate to the resource situations available to the surgeon. The book is of interest to clinicians dealing with changes in acute surgery and the increasing disparity between developed and developing countries