Oxford Handbook of Critical Care

by Mervyn Singer, Andrew Webb

Overview

The fully revised, third edition of this bestselling Handbook describes best practice of critical care in a succinct, concise and clinically-orientated way. Covering the principles of general management, it includes therapeutic and monitoring devices, specific disorders of organ systems, as well as detailed information on drugs and fluids. New material has been added on key areas such as airway maintenance, dressing techniques, infection control, echocardiography, tissue perfusion monitoring, coma and more. With up-to-date references and invaluable clinical advice, there is also plenty of space to add notes or amend sections to suit local protocols. Patient-centred and practical, it will serve the consultant, trainee, nurse or other allied health professionals as both a reference and aide memoir. This is the indispensable Oxford Handbook for all those working within critical care.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191018237
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	03/26/2009
Series:	Oxford Medical Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Dr Andrew Webb is Medical Director at UCL Hospitals and Consultant Physician in Critical Care Medicine. As a medical director his role is unusual in that it includes the executive and operational director responsibility for University College Hospital including the divisions of Critical Care&Theatres, Emergency Services, Medicines&Therapies, Pathology, Outpatients&Imaging and Surgery. He has been a Consultant in critical care medicine since 1989 and was Honorary Treasurer for the ICS during 2000-2003. He is currently chair of the Critical Care Advisory Committee for the Welsh Assembly Government. He has interests in haemodynamic monitoring, fluid management and healthcare management. He is co-author of several major critical care texts and papers on fluid management in ICU and the peri-operative period. Mervyn Singer is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London. He has published numerous books, reviews, chapters and original research publications in critical and acute medicine, and led single- and multi-centre clinical trials. His research interests include the pathophysiology and management of sepsis and multi-organ failure, shock states, tissue oxygenation, infection, haemodynamics and haemodynamic monitoring.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations1. Critical care organisation and management2. Respiratory therapy techniques3. Cardiovascular therapy techniques4. Renal therapy techniques5. Gastrointestinal therapy techniques6. Nutrition and metabolic therapy7. Wound and pressure area management8. Respiratory monitoring9. Cardiovascular monitoring10. Neurological monitoring11. Laboratory monitoring12. Miscellaneous monitoring13. Fluids14. Respiratory drugs15. Cardiovascular drugs16. Renal drugs17. Gastrointestinal drugs18. Neurological drugs19. Haematological drugs20. Miscellaneous drugs21. Resuscitation22. Respiratory disorders23. Cardiovascular disorders24. Renal disorders25. Gastrointestinal disorders26. Hepatic disorders27. Neurological disorders28. Haematological disorders29. Metabolic disorders30. Poisoning31. Infection and inflammation32. Trauma and burns33. Physical disorders34. Pain and post-operative critical care35. Oncological critical care36. Obstetric emergencies37. Transport of the critically ill38. Death and the dying patient

Editorial Reviews

3 Stars from Doody

This is the first edition of a softcover handbook of critical care. "The authors attempt to summarize current optimal practice of critical care from the standpoint of therapy, monitoring, and treatment of organ system dysfunction. Although much of the text covers topics relative to critical care management, detail that could appropriately be included in a handbook of this type is absent. "The medical student and junior house officer is the optimal audience for this work. Its size allows transport in a lab coat or jacket pocket. The authors are two intensivists from the United Kingdom. "This attractive softcover handbook is divided into approximately 40 chapters according to therapy, monitoring needs, drug management, and common problems of various organ systems. In addition, general chapters on trauma, burns, poisoning, and other metabolic, hematologic, and neurologic disorders and inflammation are also included. Content of each chapter is summarized with pages containing paragraphs or lists of key management principles. References are not given. Figures are black and white and spaced infrequently throughout the text. An index with substantial detail is provided. "The authors provide a handbook of significant scope, but frequently omit the technical details and lists of key variables that increase the value of a fingertip guide to critical care. In addition, structure and direction could be given to these brief presentations based on the experience of the authors. For example, a stepwise approach to common problems such as injury, cardiac dysfunction, or renal failure could be included. In short, the space allowed in this handbook for user notes could be better filled withfacts and algorithms to guide the inexperienced practitioner — the most likely audience for this work.

David J. Dries

Reviewer: David James Dries, MSE, MD (Regions Hospital)
Description: This third edition of a pocket-sized introduction to critical care physiology and management is based on a 2009 version with scattered updates.
Purpose: It is intended as a brief introduction to critical care physiology and typical technologies with management of common ICU complaints.
Audience: House officers and allied health professionals are an appropriate audience for this guide produced by two professors of intensive care medicine from University College London.
Features: After an overview of methods for organ system support, the authors describe drugs, fluids, and resuscitation techniques used in the critical care setting. The second half of the book describes therapies for common disorders based on organ system. For example, it covers cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, hepatic, neurological, and hematological disorders. A small group of concluding chapters cross organ systems and describe trauma, physical disorders, pain management, obstetrics, and the transport of critically ill patients. Chapters are written in outline form and make good use of tables. The occasional references date to the 2009 version. The table of contents lists chapters while the subject index divides topics by those receiving greater and lesser emphasis.
Assessment: This handbook provides worthy insights into the physiology of common critical care problems and techniques. However, many topics have not been fully updated since the 2009 printing of this third edition. There is significant opportunity to add detail without increasing the size of this pocket manual.

Doody's Review Service

"...a simple, user-friendly pocket tool significantly improved from the first edition."—Doody's Book Review

From the Publisher