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. 2010 Sep;54(5):421-7.
doi: 10.4103/0019-5049.71041.

The critically ill obstetric patient - Recent concepts

Anjan Trikha  1 , Pm Singh
Affiliations

The critically ill obstetric patient - Recent concepts

Anjan Trikha et al. Indian J Anaesth. 2010 Sep.

Abstract

Obstetric patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) present a challenge to an intensivist because of normal physiological changes associated with pregnancy and puerperium, the specific medical diseases peculiar to pregnancy and the need to take care of both the mother and the foetus. Most common causes of admission to an ICU for obstetric patients are eclampsia, severe preeclampsia, haemorrhage, congenital and valvular heart disease, septic abortions, severe anemia, cardiomyopathy and non-obstetric sepsis. The purpose of this review is to present the recent concepts in critical care management of obstetric patients with special focus mainly on ventilatory strategies, treatment of shock and nutrition. The details regarding management of individual diseases would not be discussed as these would be beyond the purview of this article. In addition, some specific issues of importance while managing such patients would also be highlighted.

Keywords: Critically ill parturient; haemodynamic; intensive care; obstetrics; pregnancy; sepsis; ventilation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

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