TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 14. The Postoperative Care of the Cardiac Surgery Patient A1 - Wasnick, John D. A1 - Hillel, Zak A1 - Kramer, David A1 - Littwin, Sanford A1 - Nicoara, Alina PY - 2011 T2 - Cardiac Anesthesia and Transesophageal Echocardiography AB - Upon completion of surgery, the cardiac patient is transported to the intensive care unit (ICU) for postoperative management. The role of the anesthesiologist or the anesthesiology department in postoperative care depends on institutional policies and procedures. Anesthesiologists trained in intensive care, non-anesthesiologist intensivists or surgical physician assistants, and nurse practitioners in consultation with the patient's attending cardiac surgeon might manage the ICU care. In other settings, the patient's anesthesiologist will manage some elements of postoperative care (eg, ventilation) while the surgeon attends to issues regarding chest tube management. What must be emphasized for the practitioner new to cardiac anesthesiology is the need to be aware of the operating paradigm used in one's individual institution. Moreover, it is critically important that the anesthesiologist carefully documents their report and the time of transfer of care to the ICU team. Unfortunately, sometimes patients survive the intraoperative period only to succumb minutes, hours, or days following arrival in the intensive care unit.This chapter reviews common problems encountered in the postoperative care of the cardiac surgery patient. It is by no means a comprehensive text on critical care but rather highlights some of the particular problems that appear in routine postoperative cardiac surgery recovery and ICU. SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=8551382 ER -