The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
The Precautionary Principle (The absence of evidence of risk = a possibility of risk until proven otherwise) and Kehoe Principle (The absence of evidence of risk = Evidence of the absence of risk) reflect different conceptions of risk in the absence of evidence
Neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the acute onset of pulmonary edema following a significant central nervous system (CNS) insult
Nitric Oxide: inhalational agent (inhaled nitric oxide, iNO); an inorganic gas - potent, selective pulmonary vasodilator of those areas of the lung being ventilated
Tissue Oxygenation Assessment
Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive, radiation-free monitoring tool that allows real-time imaging of ventilation
EIT has medium spatial resolution and a very high temporal resolution
many more tissue donors available than organ donors; less time critical; early notification allows collection of blood specimens for nucleic acid testing and screening for viral infections; more exclusion criteria (may require full post-mortem to exclude CJD)
Palliative care is distinct from curative care, which is primarily disease-specific and focused on restoration of health; Palliative care is not synonymous with end of life care, but is an important part of end of life care; As 10-20% of ICU patients will die, the transition from cure to comfort is a common and important decision to make
Medical Management of Potential Donors
The End-of-Life Care Family Meeting is a core component of ICU care; Evidence suggests that communication with families is often inadequate; The principles apply to end-of-life discussions in other settings (e.g. ED) as well
Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) refers to organ donation taking place once circulatory arrest has occurred following treatment withdrawal
DBD = donation after brain death; DCD = donation after cardiac death; WIT = time from treatment withdrawal until cold perfusion (most important phase = when SBP < 60mmHg)
Coma-like Syndromes