Neurocritical care as a subspecialty has grown rapidly over the last two decades and has reached a level of distinct maturity with the advent of newer monitoring, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in a variety of brain and spinal cord injury paradigms. Handbook of Neurocritical Care, Second Edition remains true to the operative tenet that time is brain, and rapid diagnosis and therapeutic interventions in these challenging patients cannot be overemphasized. The second edition of this important Handbook again serves as a quick, practical reference for those involved in the care of critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients. The care provided to this subset of critically ill patients continues to be multidisciplinary and includes care rendered from colleagues in emergency medical services, emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, critical care, nursing and physician assistance. Fully updated, all of the chapters again consist of easy-to-read, bulleted points followed by a list of Key Points and important references allowing for rapid access to vital information critical for fast and timely decision making. The first section covers a myriad of important general principles while the second section addresses the major diagnostic categories of neurocritical care with several new topics; these include, for example, neuroleptic malignant syndrome and malignant hyperthermia, meningitis and encephalitis, and intraventricular hemorrhage. Readers will find the algorithms, tables, and illustrations throughout the book not only useful but truly invaluable in facilitating fast and accurate decision making. Accessible and comprehensive, Handbook of Neurocritical Care, Second Edition again fills a vital need by providing readers with a succinct and practical approach to the management of critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients. TOC:Establishing and Organizing a Neurosciences Critical Care Unit.- Electrolyte and Metabolic Derangements.- Fever and Infections.- Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism: Physiology and Monitoring.- Neurologic and Multi-Modality Monitoring in the ICU.- Cerebral Edema and Intracranial Hypertension.- Cardiac Monitoring.- Airway and Ventilatory Management.- Blood Pressure Management.- Nutrition.- Sedation, Analgesia and Neuromuscular Paralysis.- Post-operative care.- Care following Neurointerventional Procedures.- Ethical Issues and Withdrawal of Life Sustaining Therapies.- Collaborative Nursing Practice in the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit. Coma and Disorders of Consciousness.- Encephalopathy and Complications of Critical Medical Illnesses.- Traumatic Brain Injury.- Acute Myelopathy.- Ischemic Stroke.- Intracerebral Hemorrhage.- Intraventricular Hemorrhage.- Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.- Ischemic-hypoxic Encephalopathy.- Meningitis and Encephalitis.- Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis.- Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, Malignant Hyperthermia and Serotonin Syndrome.- Brain Tumors.- Hydrocephalus.- Neuromuscular Disorders.- Status Epilepticus.- Deep Venous Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism.- Neurocritical Care during Pregnancy and Puerperium.- Brain Death and Organ Donation.
