Interventional Radiology and the Critically Ill
Main goals of interventional radiology (IR) therapies: stop bleeding without surgery; relieve obstruction; drain collections; and insert therapeutic or prophylactic devices
Category Medical Specialty
Pelvic Stabilization
Pelvic stabilization is an important simple intervention in the management of severe pelvic trauma, and has 4 main objectives: Prevent re-injury from pathological pelvic motion (most important clinically); Decrease pelvic volume; Tamponade bleeding pelvic bones and vessels; Decrease pain
Post-Splenectomy Care
Post-splenectomy patients are at increased risk of infection from encapsulated organisms which can (very rarely) lead to overwhelming post-splenectomy sepsis (OPSS); have distinctive findings on full blood count (FBC) and the blood film
Nosocomial Infections in ICU
COMMON NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS COMMON NOSOCOMIAL ORGANISMS RISK FACTORS Patient Environment Organism References and Links
Other Bacteria
MYCOBACTERIUM organisms: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. africanum, M. microtti, and M. canetti Tb insoniazid + rifampicin + pyrazinamide + ethambutol streptomycin ciprofloxacin Non-Tb rifampicin dapsone clofazimine kansassi: ciprofloxacin fortuitum: ciprofloxacin avium-intracellulare: clarithromycin, azithromycin chelonae: clarithromycin, azithromycin INTRACELLULAR ORGANISMS Mycoplasma…
Pneumocystis pneumonia
Pneumocystis pneumonia: form of pneumonia caused by the yeast-like fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, most commonly as an opportunistic infection in the immunosuppressed
Q Fever
Q Fever: infection caused by Coxiella burnetii
Selective Digestive Decontamination
Selective Digestive Decontamination (SDD) is a prophylactic strategy to prevent or minimize nosocomial endogenous and exogenous infections in critically ill patients
Soil-related Infections
Soil-related Infections
Staphylococcus Aureus
Staphylococcus Aureus: aerobic gram positive cocci; has developed beta-lactamase activity thus is not susceptible to penicillin (use flucloxacillin at doses of 2g 4-6 hrly)
Tetanus
Tetanus: potentially lethal condition characterised by muscular rigidity and spasms, caused by the tetanospasmin toxin produced by Clostridium tetani, that may lead to life-threatening respiratory failure and autonomic dysregulation in severe cases
Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis: disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii; obligatory intracellular protozoan; cat gut multiplication -> oocysts excreted in faeces -> invasion of hosts and formation of tissue cysts (retinal and brain).