37 Neuromuscular Disorders in the ICU Vern C. Juel, Thomas P. Bleck Abnormal neuromuscular function may precipitate a patient’s admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) or may develop as…

56 Hyperbaric Oxygen in Critical Care Stephen R. Thom Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) treatment involves intermittent breathing of pure oxygen at greater than ambient pressure. Over the past 20 years, HBO2…

18 Hypoglycemia Dieter Mesotten, Greet Van Den Berghe Hypoglycemia is the most common endocrine emergency, the most frequent complication of insulin-requiring diabetes, and the principal factor limiting optimization of glycemic…

20 Thrombocytopenia Sandro Rizoli, William C. Aird Thrombocytopenia is the most common coagulation disorder in the intensive care unit (ICU). Classically defined as a platelet count less than 150 ×…

25 Diarrhea Rajeev Dhupar, Juan B. Ochoa Diarrhea is one of the most common abnormal manifestations of gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction in the intensive care unit (ICU); the reported incidence is…

24 Ileus Timothy R. Donahue, Jonathan R. Hiatt Ileus is defined as disruption of coordinated physiologic bowel motility owing to a nonmechanical cause.1 As a result, intestinal contents cannot progress…

28 Biochemical or Electrocardiographic Evidence of Acute Myocardial Injury Justin Szawlewicz, Steven M. Hollenberg The identification of myocardial injury is an important problem in the critical care setting. The development…

17 Hypercalcemia and Hypocalcemia Moustafa Hassan, Robert N. Cooney Abnormal serum calcium concentration is a common finding in critically ill patients. The prevalence of hypocalcemia in intensive care unit (ICU)…

19 Anemia Fahim A. Habib, Carl Schulman, Stephen M. Cohn Anemia is a common clinical problem in critically ill patients. A large proportion of these patients are anemic on admission,…

8 Arterial Hypoxemia Paul Rogers Respiratory distress with hypoxemia is a common reason for patients to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Because a patient’s arterial oxygen saturation…