Neurocritical care as a subspecialty has grown rapidly over the last two decades and has reached a level of distinct maturity with the advent of newer monitoring, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in a variety of brain and spinal cord injury paradigms. Handbook of Neurocritical Care, Second Edition remains true to the operative tenet that "time is brain," and rapid diagnosis and therapeutic interventions in these challenging patients cannot be overemphasized. The second edition of this important Handbook again serves as a quick, practical reference for those involved in the care of critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients. The care provided to this subset of critically ill patients continues to be multidisciplinary and includes care rendered from colleagues in emergency medical services, emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, critical care, nursing and physician assistance. Fully updated, all of the chapters again consist of easy-to-read, bulleted points followed by a list of Key Points and important references allowing for rapid access to vital information critical for fast and timely decision making. The first section covers a myriad of important general principles while the second section addresses the major diagnostic categories of neurocritical care with several new topics; these include, for example, neuroleptic malignant syndrome and malignant hyperthermia, meningitis and encephalitis, and intraventricular hemorrhage. Readers will find the algorithms, tables, and illustrations throughout the book not only useful but truly invaluable in facilitating fast and accurate decision making. Accessible and comprehensive, Handbook of Neurocritical Care, Second Edition again fills a vital need by providing readers with a succinct and practical approach to the management of critically ill neurological and neurosurgical patients.

Inhalt
General Principles of Neurocritical Care.- Establishing and Organizing a Neuroscience Critical Care Unit.- Electrolyte and Metabolic Derangements.- Fever and Infections.- Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism: Physiology and Monitoring.- Multimodality Monitoring in Acute Brain Injury.- Cerebral Edema and Intracranial Hypertension.- Cardiac Dysfunction, Monitoring, and Management.- Airway Management and Mechanical Ventilation in the NCCCU.- Blood Pressure Management.- Nutrition in Neurocritical Care.- Sedation, Analgesia, and Neuromuscular Paralysis.- Postoperative Care.- Care Following Neurointerventional Procedures.- Ethical Issues and Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Therapies.- Collaborative Nursing Practice in the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit.- Specific Problems in Neurocritical Care.- Coma and Disorders of Consciousness.- Acute Encephalopathy.- Traumatic Brain Injury.- Acute Myelopathy.- Ischemic Stroke.- Intracerebral Hemorrhage.- Intraventricular Hemorrhage.- Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.- Brain Injury Following Cardiac Arrest.- Meningitis and Encephalitis.- Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis.- Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, Malignant Hyperthermia, and Serotonin Syndrome.- Brain Tumors.- Hydrocephalus.- Neuromuscular Disorders.- Status Epilepticus.- Deep Venous Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism.- Neurocritical Illness During Pregnancy and Puerperium.- Brain Death and Organ Donation.