The field of critical care medicine is in the midst of a dramatic change. Technological and scientific advances during the last decade have resulted in a fundamental change in the way we view disease processes, such as sepsis, shock, acute lung injury, and traumatic brain injury. Pediatric intensivists have been both witness to and active participants in bringing about these changes and it is imperative that all physicians caring for critically ill children in this new era have a thorough understanding of the applicability of these modern developments to the care of patients at the bedside and to keep up with the rapidly evolving field of critical care medicine.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Development of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine ¿ How Did We Get Here and Why?, Epidemiology of Critical Illness, Ethics in the PICU, The Patient¿s Family in the PICU, Scoring Systems in Critical Care, Outcomes and Quality: Definitions, Assessment, and Analysis, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Administration, Nursing Care in the PICU, The Physician-Scientist In The PICU, Resident And Nurse Education In The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Evidence-based Medicine in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Patient Safety in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Critical Care in Developing Countries, The PICU of the Future, Molecular Biology in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Genetic Polymorphisms in Critical Care and Illness, Signal Transduction Pathways in Critical Illness and Injury, Proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators in critical illness, Endogenous cytoprotective mechanisms, Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury