Intensivists

From HMCwiki

Intensive Care Medicine or critical care medicine is concerned with providing greater than ordinary medical care and observation to people in a critical or unstable condition.

People requiring intensive care include those after major surgery, with severe head trauma, life-threatening acute illness, respiratory insufficiency, coma, haemodynamic insufficiency, severe fluid imblance or with the failure of one or more of the major organ systems (life-critical systems or others).

It is generally the most expensive, high technology and resource intensive area of medical care. In the United States estimates of the 2000 expenditure for critical care medicine ranged from US$15-55 billion. This is about 0.5% of GDP and about 13% of national health care expenditure (Halpern, 2004).

Intensive care is only offered to those whose condition is potentially reversible and who have a good chance of surviving with intensive care support. Since the critically ill are close to dying the outcome of this intervention is difficult to predict. Many patients therefore still die in the Intensive Care Unit. A prime requisite for admission to an Intensive Care Unit is that the underlying condition can be overcome. Therefore treatment is merely meant to win time in which the acute infliction can be resolved.