Critical care is now a mandatory part of training for surgeons and physicians as well as anaesthetists. It also forms a comprehensive part of postgraduate medical exams such as FRCA and FRCS. This new second edition of Key Topics in Critical Care has been revised and updated and is written to provide a broad base in the major areas of critical care so that the reader can rapidly acquire an understanding of the principles and practice that apply to this area of modern clinical medicine.

Admission and Discharge Criteria. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Adrenal Disease. AIDS. Analgesia in Critical Care: Basic. Analgesia in Critical Care: Advanced. Anaphylaxis. Arterial Blood Gases: Acid-base Physiology. Arterial Blood Gases: Analysis. Arterial Cannulation. Asthma. Blood and Blood Products. Blood Coagulation. Blood Transfusion and Complications. Brain Death and Organ Donation. Burns. Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphate. Cancer Patients and Critical Care. Cardiac Arrhythmias. Cardiac Chest Pain (Acute Coronary Syndrome). Cardiac Failure. Cardiac Output: Measurement. Cardiac Pacing. Cardiac Valve Disease. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Central Venous Pressure. Chest Tube Thoracostomy. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Coma. Critical Illness Polyneuromyopathy. Death Certification. Diabetes Mellitus. Drug Overdose. End-of-life Care. Endocarditis. Epiglottis. Fibreoptic Bronchoscopy. Fluid Replacement Therapy. Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Head Injury. Hyperthermia. Hypothermia. Infection Control. Infection Acquired in Critical Care (Nosocomial). Inotropes and Vasopressors. Liver Dysfunction. Medical Emergency Team (Outreach Critical Care). Meningitis. Meningococcal Sepsis. Myasthenia Gravis. Nutrition. Obstetric Emergencies: Major Haemorrhage. Obstetric Emergencies: Medical. Pancreatitis. Pneumonia: Community Acquired. Pneumonia: Hospital Acquired. Post Resuscitation Care. Potassium. Psychological Aspects of Critical Care. Pulmonary Aspiration. Renal Failure: Rescue Therapy. Renal Failure: Acute. Renal Replacement Therapy. Respiratory Support: Non-invasive Techniques. Respiratory Support: Invasive. Scoring Systems. Sedation. Sickle Cell Disease. SIRS, Sepsis and Multiple Organ Failure. Sodium. Spinal Injuries. Status Epilepticus. Stress Ulceration. Stroke. Subarachnoid Haemorrhage. Thyroid Emergencies. Tracheostomy. Transfer of the Critically Ill. Trauma: Anaesthesia and Critical Care. Trauma: Primary Survey. Trauma: Secondary Survey. Venous Thromboembo