Infectious Diseases in Critical Care

Infections and their complications are a very important clinical area in the intensive care unit setting. Community-acquired infections and nosocomial infections both contribute to the high level of disease acquisition common among critically ill patients. The accurate diagnosis of nosocomial infections and the provision of appropriate therapies, including antimicrobial therapy effective against the identified agents of infection, have been shown to be important determinants of patient outcome.

Critical care practitioners are in a unique position in dealing with infectious diseases. They are often the initial providers of care to seriously ill patients with infections. Additionally, they have a responsibility to ensure that nosocomial infections are prevented and that antimicrobial resistance is minimized by prudently employing antibiotic agents. It is the editors' hope that this book will provide clinicians practicing in the intensive care unit with a reference to help guide their care of infected patients. To that end they have brought together a group of international authors to address important topics related to infectious diseases for the critical care practitioner.

Table of contents

General Aspects: Approach to the febrile patient in the ICU. Cardiovascular monitoring in severe sepsis or septic shock. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and infection. Opportunistic infections in the ICU. Infections in critically ill solid organ transplant recipients. HIV in the ICU. Fungal infections. Using protocols to improve the outcomes of critically ill patients with infection: focus on ventilator-associated pneumonia and severe sepsis. Microbial surveillance in the ICU.- Use of Anti-Infective Therapy in Critically Ill Patients: Antimicrobial prophylaxis in the ICU. Anti-fungal therapy in the ICU. Dose adjustment and pharmacokinetics of antibiotics in severe sepsis and septic shock. Prescription of antimicrobial agents in patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy. Methods for implementing antibiotic control in the ICU. Use of antibiotics in pregnant patients. Immunomodulation in sepsis. Antibiotic-induced diarrhea.- Infection Control/Epidemiology: Fundamentals of infection control and strategies for the ICU. Antibiotic resistance in the ICU. Epidemiology of pseudomonas aeruginosa in the ICU. How to control MRSA spread in the ICU. Epidemiology of acinetobacter baumannii in the ICU.- Bloodstream Infections and Infection Diseases Emergencies: Brain abscess. Falciparum malaria. Toxic shock syndromes. Acute infective endocarditis. Influenza. Bloodstream infection in the ICU. Bloodstream infections in patients with total parenteral nutrition catheter. Hemodialysis catheter-related infections. Infection of pulmonary arterial catheter and peripheral arterial catheter. Prevention of catheter-related bloodstream infections in critical care patients. Meningococcemia. Septic Shock.- Respiratory Infections: Tracheobronchitis in the ICU. Severe community-acquired pneumonia. Legionnaires’ Disease. Adjunctive and supportive measures for community-acquired pneumonia. Respiratory infection in immunocompromised neutropenic patients. Pneumonia in non-neutropenic immunocompromised patients. Community-acquired respiratory complications in the ICU: Pneumonia and acute exacerbations of COPD. Management of hospital-associated pneumonia in the ICU. Assessment of resolution of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Invasive devices in the pathogenesis of nosocomial pneumonia.- Infections with Surgical Implications: Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Sepsis in obstetrics. Diagnosis and management of intraabdominal sepsis. Surgical site infection control in the critical care environment. Severe soft tissue infections. Vascular graft infection. Acute mediastinitis. Pancreatic infection. Urinary tract infections. Neurosurgical infections in ICU patients.