Heliox is a mixture of Helium and oxygen being considered for use in asthma patients. Therapeutic strategies for patients with pulmonary medicine often employ bronchodilators or corticosteroids to reduce airway resistance and improve airflow. As an alternative strategy, viscosity and density of the atmosphere manipulated to the same desired effect. Air consists of 21% oxygen, with […]
Virtually all burn patients have elevated core body temperatures and even a leukocytosis. Thus, fever after burn patients is not a reliable indicator of infection. One study in children found that fever had no predictive value for the presence of infection and physical examination was a more reliable source of information about wound infection and
Little substantial human data exists concerning the impact of fluids on the brain, which may guide rational IV Fluid Replacement in neurosurgical patients. Therefore, recommendations arise from known factors that influence water movement into the brain. IV Fluid Replacement in neurosurgical patients can alter three properties of the blood, viz., osmolality, colloid oncotic pressure and
Mechanism of Action of Milrinone Milrinone is a selective inhibitor of type III cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) phosphodiesterase isoenzyme in cardiac and vascular smooth muscle. Its inhibitory action on phosphodiesterase results in increased cAMP levels, which in turn increases contractility in cardiac muscle and stimulates vasodilatation in blood vessels. This causes an increase in cardiac
There are 4 types of Hypoxia . The 4 types of Hypoxia are as follows: 1. Anoxic hypoxia or Diffusion hypoxia Anoxic hypoxia also called as diffusion hypoxia is essentially due to the deficiency of oxygen being absorbed by the lungs. This is either due to a decrease in the inspired concentration of oxygen in the air
Cyanide Toxicity can occur with sodium nitroprusside. Hypertension is commonly seen in the perioperative setting as well as the intensive care unit (ICU). There are many agents to lower blood pressure with different mechanisms of action. One of the most potent vasodilators is sodium nitroprusside, which causes arteriolar and venous smooth muscle relaxation via nitric oxide-mediated
Chronic atrial fibrillation (A fib) has an incidence of 0.4% in the general population (approximately 10% of those more than 60 years of age) and many of these patients are admitted to intensive or intermediate care units for reasons unrelated to this diagnosis. Chronic atrial fibrillation needs to be clearly differentiated from new-onset atrial fibrillation
Unstable tachycardias can be manifested by chest pain, shortness of breath, decreased urine output, mental status changes, or hypotension. The assessment of a patient with a tachycardia requires a systematic approach. First, the physician must determine whether the patient is experiencing evidence of hemodynamic compromise as a result of the tachycardia, which is generally not
Unstable Tachycardias – narrow complex and wide complex tachycardias Read More »
Cerebral ischaemia or hypoxia may occur as a consequence of shock, vascular stenosis or occlusion, vasospasm, neurotrauma and cardiac arrest. Strategies to protect the brain i.e Cerebral protection from ischemic/hypoxic insults are based on the understanding of pathophysiological processes that follow ischemia/hypoxia to result in neuronal death. Neurologic morbidity is common in those patients experiencing
Unfractionated heparin is a mixture of different weights of heparin (5 to 30k) that have varying effects on factors IIa, IXa, and Xa. Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) is a subset of heparin (weight ~5k) that has activity on factor Xa, but not on IIa. LMWH has the advantage of less binding to protein and dose-independent clearance.
Unfractionated heparin in Acute Coronary syndromes Read More »
