Therapy of Critically Ill Postoperative Patients Based on Outcome Prediction and Prospective Clinical Trials

Abstract

Postoperative ICU management has traditionally focused on physiologic and biochemical deficiencies that are identified and then corrected. Usually this one-at-a-time search for defects after they occur results in piece-meal, fragmented, episodic care. Moreover, this traditional approach usually assumes that normal values are the appropriate therapeutic goals and does not take appropriate cognizance of the increased metabolic and hemodynamic needs of the critically ill patient.