Controversies in Critical Care [E-Book]

Part 1: Respiratory Support in the Critically Ill -- Oxygenation Targets in the ICU: Conservative or Liberal? -- The Hypoxic Drive, Supplemental Oxygen, and Hypercapnia -- Non-invasive Respiratory Support in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure -- PEEP Titration by the Bedside: How Do we Set it Right? -- Do Vigorous Spontaneous Respiratory Efforts Lead to Patient Self-inflicted Lung Injury (P-SILI)? -- Prone Ventilation in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome -- Neuromuscular Blocking Agents in Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Benefit or Harm? -- Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: Newer Definitions, Controversies, and Perspectives -- Lung-protective Ventilation and Hypercapnia: How Much is Permissible? -- Tracheostomy in the ICU: Early or Late? -- Diaphragmatic Dysfunction in Critical Illness -- Weaning and Liberation from Mechanical Ventilation: Is my Patient Ready? -- When to Decannulate a Tracheostomy? -- Thrombolytic Therapy in Acute Pulmonary Embolism -- Part 2: Shock and Circulatory Support -- Corticosteroids in Sepsis: The Enduring Debate -- Hyperlactatemia in Critical Illness: Time for Reappraisal? -- Permissive Hypotension in Severe Trauma -- Assessment of Volume Responsiveness in the Critically Ill -- The Strategy of "De-resuscitation" in the Critically Ill -- Where Do We Stand with Early Goal-Directed Therapy in Sepsis? -- Normal Saline Versus Balanced Crystalloids Revisited -- Liberal Fluid Resuscitation vs. Early Vasopressors in Septic Shock -- Epinephrine and Outcomes Following Cardiac Arrest -- Targeted Temperature Management in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest -- Part 3: Acute Kidney Injury and Renal Replacement Therapy -- Augmented Renal Clearance in the Critically Ill -- Renal Replacement Therapy in Acute Kidney Injury: Is Timing all-Important? -- Optimizing the Dose of Renal Replacement Therapy -- Renal Replacement Therapy in The Critically Ill: Continuous vs. Prolonged Intermittent Therapies -- Part 4: Neurocritical Care -- Does Intracranial Pressure Monitoring Help in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury? -- Therapeutic Hypothermia in Traumatic Brain Injury -- Decompressive Craniectomy in Traumatic Brain Injury -- Optimzation of Osmotherapy in Cerebral Edema -- How Much Sedation in Critically Ill Patients on Mechanical Ventilation? -- Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit: Are we Paying Enough Attention? -- Clearing the Cervical Spine in Trauma Patients -- Part 5: Metabolic Support in Critical Illness -- Glycemic Control in the Critically Ill -- Vitamin C in Sepsis: End of the Debate? -- Part 6: The Gut and Nutrition -- Early or Supplemental Parenteral Nutrition vs. Enteral Nutrition Alone in The Critically Ill -- Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in the ICU -- Do Tradition-Borne Fasting Practices Apply to ICU Patients with a Protected Airway? -- Part 7: Infections and Antibiotic Therapy -- Multidrug-resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria in the ICU: Do we Have Answers? -- Empirical Antibiotic Therapy: De-escalation Demystified -- Is it the End of the Road for Inhaled Antibiotic Therapy in Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia? -- Duration of Antibiotic Therapy in the Critically Ill -- Selective Digestive Decontamination: Helpful or Harmful? -- Part 8: Organizational Challenges in the ICU -- Which Organizational Structure to Pursue? The Open vs. Closed ICU Debate -- Adverse Events in the ICU: Building and Sustaining an Organizational Culture of Patient Safety -- How Effective are Rapid Response Systems? -- Part 9: Coagulopathy and Transfusion -- Transfusion Thresholds in Non-Bleeding Critically Ill Patients -- Tranexamic Acid in the Bleeding Patient -- Dengue-Related Thrombocytopenia and Platelet Transfusion -- Part 10: Burns -- Thermal Injury Resuscitation.

The book covers vigorously debated controversial topics in the field of critical care medicine over the years. It provides the reader with a balanced approach and guidance based on historical and currently available evidence in dealing with contentious clinical scenarios. The book reviews the most relevant, contemporaneous evidence on each topic and provides practical guidelines for clinical practice. The book includes chapters that follow a structured approach to controversies related to specific organ systems. The topics covered provide a summary of the most relevant, practice-changing studies in the field of critical care medicine. Each topic describes the basic applied physiology, points of controversy, the evidence base, and summarizes the key points at the end. It includes brief description of landmark studies on each controversial topic. The book serves as an important clinical guide to practitioners of critical care medicine when confronted with challenging clinical scenarios. Besides, it is a useful source of information to postgraduate trainees in various medical specialties. The topics addressed are among the most widely discussed during postgraduate examinations. It is also relevant for practitioners in general medicine and specialized areas of practice, including pulmonology (respiratory medicine), cardiology, neurology, nephrology, gastroenterology, and surgical specialties.