RT Book, Section
A1 Bohnen, J.M.A.
A1 Mustard, R.A.
A1 Schouten, B.D.
A2 Hall, Jesse B.
A2 Schmidt, Gregory A.
A2 Wood, Lawrence D.H.
SR Print(0)
ID 2297141
T1 Chapter 89. The Acute Abdomen and Intra-Abdominal Sepsis
T2 Principles of Critical Care, 3e
YR 2005
FD 2005
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071416405
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=2297141
RD 2023/03/29
AB Patterns  of  presentation  of  the  acute  abdomen  in  the  intensive  care  unit  (ICU)  may  be  unusual.Conjoint  evaluation  by  intensivist,  surgeon,  and  gastroenterologist  is  frequently  needed.Prompt  diagnosis  is  the  key  to  successful  management.Computed  tomography  (CT)  or  ultrasonography  should  be  used  liberally  in  the  evaluation  of  intra-abdominal  sepsis.Complications  occur  frequently  in  the  postsurgical  ICU  patient;  “stable  vital  signs"  does  not  imply  clinical  stability.Postoperative  residual  or  recurrent  intra-abdominal  sepsis  may  not  be  clinically  obvious  and  may  not  be  demonstrated  by  a  CT  scan;  cardiorespiratory  instability  should  prompt  a  high  level  of  suspicion.The  treatment  of  the  febrile  postsurgical  patient  is  not  simply  the  administration  of  further  antibiotics.Acalculous  cholecystitis  is  a  treacherous  disease  which  requires  urgent  treatment;  definitive  diagnosis  is  not  always  possible  or  necessary  before  treatment.