TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Gastrointestinal Infections and Clostridium Difficile A1 - Collison, Maggie A1 - Galaydick, Jodi A1 - Weber, Stephen G. A2 - Schmidt, Gregory A. A2 - Kress, John P. A2 - Douglas, Ivor S. Y1 - 2023 N1 - T2 - Hall, Schmidt and Wood’s Principles of Critical Care, 5th Edition AB - KEY POINTSIn addition to immunologic mechanisms, physical (motility), chemical (gastric acidity), and microbiologic (normal colonizing flora) factors normally protect the gastrointestinal tract against infection.Esophagitis, most commonly caused by Candida albicans or herpes simplex virus, may be underrecognized among patients in the intensive care unit.Infection with Helicobacter pylori may play a role in the pathogenesis of gastric stress ulceration among critically ill patients.The epidemiology and microbiology of diarrheal illness is significantly different among patients in the critical care unit than is observed in the community setting. Most infectious diarrhea in the ICU is hospital-acquired and is usually attributable to Clostridium difficile.A systematic approach to the critically ill patient with diarrhea includes consideration of pathogens that cause noninflammatory, inflammatory, and hemorrhagic diarrhea. SN - PB - McGraw Hill CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/11 UR - accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1201806371 ER -