Clinical Examination Skills in the Adult Critically Ill Patient

Foreword.- Preface.- Part I. General approach to the critically ill patient.- Basic principles.- The first impression.- Checking vital functions.- Recognizing pre-terminal signs.- Part II. Examining single organ systems.- The airway and lungs.- The circulation.- The brain.- The abdomen.- The liver.- The hydration status and the kidneys.- The neuromuscular system and spinal cord.- The coagulation.- Part III. Systematic examination schemes.- The patient in respiratory distress.- The patient in shock.- The patient with a neurological disease.- The patient with severe trauma.- The patient with a suspected infection.- The patient in cardiac arrest.- The intoxicated patient.- During the ICU ward round.- Part IV. Appendix. Dermatological pearls for the intensivist.

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 Committeeof 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

"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)