Clinical Applications of Respiratory Care

Abstract

Fresh from their residency and board examinations, surgeons can usually stand toe to toe and trade acronyms with pulmonologists without flinching. Five years and an equal number of new ventilator models later, they usually blink. By this time most of us have given up the pretense of remaining on the cutting edge of this dynamic technology and simply hire these people and their assistants as consultants. Two options are then open to the surgeon: (1) total ignorance and dependence or (2) an informal amateurism. The latter is the more dignified option, and this book is for surgeons who choose it. It is more than a user's manual and less than a basic textbook of respiratory physiology. Along with several similar recent publications, it is designed to give the practicing clinical surgeon an overview of clinical respiratory physiology, with emphasis on ventilatory support in the intensive care unit. Professional intensivists and