The goal of this chapter is to make the following points: 1. Taxpayers, employers, and employees demand that medicine deliver better value. Physicians need evidence-based medicine to establish which interventions…
Defining Palliative Care Palliative care is defined by the World Health Organization as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated…
The Growth of Unidimensional Pain Assessment Tools A subjective and personal experience, pain remains difficult to quantify within the confines of empirically based medical tradition. Regardless of this challenge, however,…
Introduction Perioperative electrolyte and endocrine disorders are dealt with by anesthesiologists on a daily basis. With the rising incidence of diabetes and obesity and their relation to increased morbidity in…
Definition Respiratory failure occurs when the lungs fail to oxygenate the arterial blood adequately and/or fail to prevent carbon dioxide retention. Although the definition does not contain any absolute values,…
Introduction Maternal safety surrounding nonobstetrical surgery, labor, and delivery has been seen as one of the greatest triumphs of 20th century medicine. Within living memory, nearly 1% of women in…
Introduction Major abdominal surgery encompasses a broad range of operations with a wide variety of procedures that fall under this category. The perioperative management after a low-risk procedure such as…
Introduction The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) recently defined sepsis as a “life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection.” Sepsis is…
After uncomplicated neurosurgical procedures, patients are often admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for close observation. In the large majority of cases, this level of care is warranted as…
Care of patients with multisystem trauma is challenging. Although well-defined constellations of injury exist, ultimately each patient is unique in preinjury health, injury complex, and postinjury management. Because many injuries…
