The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
Indications: Evaluate the adequacy of ventilation, acid–base status, and oxygenation. Evaluate the patient’s response to therapy and/or diagnostic evaluation (e.g. oxygen delivery). Monitor severity and progression of a known disease process. Contraindications: Modified Allen test gives a negative result, indicating…
Methanol Toxicity
Regional Citrate Anticoagulation is the infusion of citrate into the blood circuit during renal replacement therapy (RRT) to chelate ionized Ca2+ forming calcium-citrate complexes, thus preventing coagulation of blood; calcium is required for the generation of thrombin (involved in the activation of factors II, IX and X)
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome: life-threatening extrapyramidal complication of using neuroleptic drugs
Malignant Hyperthermia = pharmacogenetic disease of skeletal muscle induced by exposure to certain anaesthetic agents; incidence 1:5,000 -> 1:65,000 anaesthetics (suspected); mutation in the gene coding for the ryanodine receptor
Anticholinergic Syndrome
Much of what we do in toxicology is because we think it works, not because we know it works. Clinical toxicology has traditionally been based on animal studies, case reports and case series based on clinical observation rather than clinical trials
Sympathomimetic toxidrome
Iron overdose can have local gastrointestinal effects as well as characteristic systemic toxicity (metabolic acidosis, liver failure, shock and multi-organ failure). Risk assessment is based on the amount of elemental iron ingested
Tick paralysis is a rare life-threatening disorder caused by envenoming from ixodid tick bites. Can cause respiratory paralysis
Severe toxicity from plants is rare in humans; risk assessment is often difficult - plant identification may be difficult; - toxin quantification may be impossible