Brain dysfunction is a major clinical problem in intensive care, with potentially debilitating long-term consequences for post-ICU patients of any age. The resulting extended length of stay in the ICU and post-discharge cognitive dysfunction are now recognized as major healthcare burdens. This comprehensive clinical text provides intensivists and neurologists with a practical review of the pathophysiology of brain dysfunction and a thorough account of the diagnostic and therapeutic options available. Initial sections review the epidemiology, outcomes, relevant behavioral neurology and biological mechanisms of brain dysfunction. Subsequent sections evaluate the available diagnostic options and preventative and therapeutic interventions, with a final section on clinical encephalopathy syndromes encountered in the ICU. Each chapter is rich in illustrations, with an executive summary and a helpful glossary of terms. Brain Disorders in Critical Illness is a seminal reference for all physicians and neuroscientists interested in the care and outcome of severely ill patients.

The fully updated second edition of this popular handbook concisely summarizes all current knowledge about delirium in critically ill patients and describes simple tools the bedside clinician can use to prevent, diagnose and manage delirium. Chapters discuss new developments in assessing risk and diagnosis, crucial discoveries regarding delirium and long-term cognitive outcomes, and dangers of sedation and death. Updated management advice reflects new evidence about antipsychotics and delirium. This book explains how to minimise the risks of delirium, drugs to avoid, drugs to use and when to use them, as well as current theories regarding pathophysiology, different motoric subtypes leading to missed diagnosis, and the adverse impact of delirium on patient outcomes. While there are still unanswered questions, this edition contains all the available answers. Illustrated with real-life case reports, Delirium in Critical Care is essential reading for trainees, consultants and nurses in the ICU and emergency department.

In this issue of Anesthesiology Clinics, Guest Editors Pratik Panharipande and Wesley Ely look at modern sedation techniques in the critically ill. Topics include pharmacology of commonly used analgesics and sedatives in the ICU (including benzodiazepines, propofol, and opioids); pharmacology of sedative-analgesic agents (including dexmedetomidine, remifentanil, ketamine, volatile anesthetics, and the role of peripheral mu antagonists); lessons learned from international surveys of current sedation practices; protocolized and target-based sedation and analgesia in the ICU; sedation and weaning from mechanical ventilation, linking spontaneous awakening trials and spontaneous breathing trials to improve patient outcomes; altering ICU sedation paradigms to improve patient outcomes; sedation and sleep disturbances; sedation and immunomodulation; pharmacoeconomics of sedation; prevention and treatment of adult and pediatric delirium; and cognitive functioning, mental health and quality of life in ICU survivors.

In this issue, Guest Editors Pratik Panharipande and Wesley Ely look at modern Sedation techniques in the critically ill. Topics include: "Pharmacology of commonly used sedatives and analgesics in the ICU," "Pharmacology of newer agents for sedation and analgesia in the critically ill," "Current sedation practices: lessons learned from recent international surveys," "Sedation and Immunomodulation," "Sedation and sleep disturbances in the ICU," and more!