Critical Care/ICU:

Critical Care Medicine (CCM), also known as Intensive Care Medicine, is a high-stakes subspecialty that focuses on the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of life-threatening conditions that require advanced organ support and invasive monitoring. It is practiced in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) by specialists known as intensivists.

Patients in the ICU often have multi-organ failure, sepsis, severe trauma, shock, or post-operative complications, and require continuous monitoring, ventilatory support, vasopressors, dialysis, and other advanced interventions.

Scope of Critical Care Medicine

Common ICU Conditions

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)

Septic shock

Acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock

Stroke, status epilepticus

Major trauma and burns

Multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS)

Acute kidney injury (AKI)

Drug overdose and poisoning

Postoperative critical care (especially in cardiac and neuro ICUs)