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Clinical Examination Skills in the Adult Critically Ill Patient

  • Describes how physical examination in patients requiring emergency or intensive care differs from that in other patients

  • Explains the approach to examination of individual organ systems

  • Presents examination schemes for different conditions and settings

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Table of contents (21 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. General Approach to the Critically III Patient

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Basic Principles

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 3-6
    3. The First Impression

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 7-10
    4. Checking Vital Functions

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 11-14
    5. Recognizing Preterminal Signs

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 15-18
  3. Examining Single Organ Systems

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
    2. The Airway and Lungs

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 21-49
    3. The Circulation

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 51-80
    4. The Brain

      • Martin W. Dünser, Ronny Beer, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 81-111
    5. The Abdomen

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Wilhelm Grander, Dietmar Öfner-Velano, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 113-128
    6. The Liver

      • Martin W. Dünser, Sirak Petros, Wilhelm Grander, Dietmar Öfner-Velano, Mervyn Mer
      Pages 129-136
    7. The Hydration Status and the Kidneys

      • Martin W. Dünser, Wilfred Druml, Sirak Petros, Wilhelm Grander
      Pages 137-142
    8. The Neuromuscular System and Spinal Cord

      • Martin W. Dünser, Ronny Beer
      Pages 143-154
    9. The Coagulation

      • Martin W. Dünser, Sirak Petros, Herbert Schöchl
      Pages 155-162
  4. Systematic Examination Schemes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 163-163
    2. The Patient in Respiratory Distress

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl
      Pages 165-169
    3. The Patient in Shock

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl
      Pages 171-176
    4. The Patient with Neurological Disease

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl
      Pages 177-190
    5. The Patient with Severe Trauma

      • Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl
      Pages 191-200

About this book

This well-illustrated book provides detailed guidance on all aspects of physical examination in patients requiring emergency or intensive care. After an introductory section covering basic principles and the recognition of pre-terminal signs, the approach to examination of individual organ systems is clearly explained. Examination schemes are then presented for particular conditions or settings, including respiratory distress, shock, neurological disease, trauma, suspected infection, and cardiac arrest.

The skill of physical examination has become the forgotten art of medicine in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Furthermore, most books on the topic have so far focused on examination practices applicable to non-critically ill patients. In emergency and intensive care medicine, however, a different approach and sometimes also different examination techniques are required due to the life-threatening disease process. In summarizing knowledge and providing guidance on physical examination in this specific subgroup of patients, this book will meet the needs of all physicians and allied health care professionals involved in the care of critically ill patients.

Reviews

“The major strength of the book is that it is so easy to use. The illustrations and guidance will help readers to perform clinical examinations in a structured way. … The book would be of value for clinicians in any intensive care unit, emergency room, and for physicians and paramedics working in the prehospital field.” (Ann Merete Møller, Anesthesia & Analgesia, Vol. 130 (1), January, 2020)

“Providers at all levels practicing in the disciplines caring for medical and surgical critical illness in the adult will find this guide useful. Because of the wide range of problems examined, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and internists will be able to find information on presentation and typical examination findings for problems relevant to their normal scope of practice.” (David J. Dries, Doody's Book Reviews, June 14, 2019)




“The text is up-to-date, clearly written, and usefully goes back to the basic principles of examination skills and builds up the knowledge base. A myriad of clear photos demonstrating a vast amount of pathology, and systematic figures fill the book to aid learning.” (Edward Gilbert-Kawai, British Journal of Hospital Medicine, Vol. 79 (12), December, 2018)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Kepler University Hospital, Linz, Austria

    Martin W. Dünser

  • Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and General Intensive Care, Salzburg University Hospital and Paracelsus Private Medical University, Salzburg, Austria

    Daniel Dankl

  • Medical Intensive Care Unit and Centre of Haemostaseology, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Sirak Petros

  • Divisions of Critical Care and Pulmonology, Department of Medicine, Charlotte , Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Mervyn Mer

About the editors

Martin W. Dünser is vice-director of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine of the Kepler University Hospital in Linz, Austria. He was trained in anesthesia, intensive care and emergency medicine and worked as an intensive care consultant in Bern (Switzerland), Salzburg (Austria) and London (United Kingdom). He is a pre-hospital emergency physician for the Austrian Red Cross and worked for London’s Air Ambulance. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Dünser is interested in medical work in low- and middle-income countries and has been involved in field work in Africa and Asia. He was co-founder and chair of the Global Intensive Care working group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). He serves as co-chair of the Sepsis in Resource-Limited Nations initiative of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. He was deputy chair and chair of the Trauma and Emergency Medicine section and is a past member of the Research as well as the Congress Committee of the ESICM. Dr. Dünser is a reviewer for numerous journals and author of over 180 scientific articles.

Daniel Dankl is consultant at the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine of the Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg/Austria. He was trained in internal medicine, intensive care medicine, emergency medicine and anaesthesia in Rheine/Germany, Wels/Austria and Salzburg/Austria. He also worked as a pre-hospital emergency physician for the Austrian Red Cross. Daniel has a special interest in the physical and ultrasound examination of the critically ill patient and renal replacement techniques in intensive care. 

Sirak Petros is director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and the Center of Haemostaseology at the University Hospital of Leipzig in Leipzig/Germany. After graduating in medicine from the Gondar College of Medical Sciences in Gondar/Ethiopia, he completed his residency in internal medicine at the University Hospital of Leipzig. Dr. Petros was trained in gastroenterology, intensive care medicine, emergency medicine, and haemostaseology. Since then he has worked as a consultant both in intensive care medicine and haemostaseology; he also served as director of the Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center at the University Hospital of Leipzig. 

Mervyn Mer, MBBCh, Dip PEC (SA), FCP (SA), Pulmonology subspecialty, M Med (Int Med), Cert Critical Care (SA), FRCP (London), FCCP (USA), PhD, is a Principal Specialist in the Department of Medicine, Divisions of Critical Care and Pulmonology at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a specialist physician, pulmonologist and intensivist. Dr. Mer is a hands-on-clinician as well as being involved in various aspects of clinical research. He is the immediate Past President of the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (CCSSA), having served three terms, current vice-President of the Southern African Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, and recently appointed Chairperson of the Global Intensive Care Working Group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). He has lectured widely on a global level and is a reviewer for several journals. Mervyn has been the recipient of several awards, amongst others, the Phillip V. Tobias and Convocation Clinical Award for Distinguished Teaching (highest teaching award offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand), the President’s Award of the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (highest award offered by the CCSSA for outstanding contributions to Critical Care), and the Sam Naidoo Award for the best clinician, conferred by the Southern African Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. More recently, he was the first recipient of the Hilda Datnow Jacobson award (awarded to the most competent, caring and capable doctor in the profession, irrespective of field of interest).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Clinical Examination Skills in the Adult Critically Ill Patient

  • Editors: Martin W. Dünser, Daniel Dankl, Sirak Petros, Mervyn Mer

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77365-0

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-77364-3Published: 03 September 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-08439-4Published: 19 December 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-77365-0Published: 09 August 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 261

  • Number of Illustrations: 10 b/w illustrations, 226 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Intensive / Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Anesthesiology, Surgery

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access