Controversies in Critical Care

The book covers vigorously debated controversial topics in the field of critical care medicine over the years. It provides the reader with a balanced approach and guidance based on historical and currently available evidence in dealing with contentious clinical scenarios. The book reviews the most relevant, contemporaneous evidence on each topic and provides practical guidelines for clinical practice. The book includes chapters that follow a structured approach to controversies related to specific organ systems. The topics covered provide a summary of the most relevant, practice-changing studies in the field of critical care medicine. Each topic describes the basic applied physiology, points of controversy, the evidence base, and summarizes the key points at the end. It includes brief description of landmark studies on each controversial topic. The book serves as an important clinical guide to practitioners of critical care medicine when confronted with challenging clinical scenarios. Besides, it is a useful source of information to postgraduate trainees in various medical specialties. The topics addressed are among the most widely discussed during postgraduate examinations. It is also relevant for practitioners in general medicine and specialized areas of practice, including pulmonology (respiratory medicine), cardiology, neurology, nephrology, gastroenterology, and surgical specialties.

Part 1: Respiratory Support in the Critically Ill.- Oxygenation Targets in the ICU: Conservative or Liberal'.- The Hypoxic Drive, Supplemental Oxygen, and Hypercapnia.- Non-invasive Respiratory Support in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure.- PEEP Titrati