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This book on post-injury multiple organ failure (MOF) offers a comprehensive overview and clinically focused practical guide to treating the condition. MOF is arguably the most difficult complication to manage in polytrauma patients and is responsible for the majority of trauma deaths among patients who survived the first 24 hours after injury. Beyond mortality, it has a major impact on healthcare resource utilization and a persistent negative effect on patients'long-term reported outcomes. This book is edited by surgeons who are passionate about the topic, and about optimizing the outcomes for polytrauma patients. Grasping the fascinating pathophysiology of MOF is essential for providing patients with quality early care. Each chapter highlights key learning objectives, historical perspectives, diagnostic and therapeutic pearls, and includes a must-know summary, additional reading suggestions and future research directions. Flowcharts, decision-making guides, summary tables, graphics and clinical photographs help to maximize the learning experience and to ensure readers retain what they've learned. The book fills a unique niche area for many specialties dedicated to critical care of polytrauma patients and to their management before and beyond intensive care.

Although most clinicians are aware of the problem of antimicrobial resistance, most also underestimate its significance in their own hospital. The incorrect and inappropriate use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, as well as poor prevention and poor control of infections, are contributing to the development of such resistance. Appropriate use of antibiotics and compliance with infection prevention and control measures should be integral aspects of good clinical practice and standards of care. However, these activities are often inadequate among clinicians, and there is a considerable gap between the best evidence and actual clinical practice. In hospitals, cultural determinants influence clinical practice, and improving behaviour in terms of infection prevention and antibiotics-prescribing practice remains a challenge. Despite evidence supporting the effectiveness of best practices, many clinicians fail to implement them, and evidence-based processes and practices that are known to optimize both the prevention and the treatment of infections tend to be underused. Addressing precisely this problem, this volume offers an essential toolkit for all surgeons and intensivists interested in improving their clinical practices.

This manual explains how to make the right decisions on the timing and selection of investigations and surgical procedures in emergency and urgent surgical settings and describes the most widely used procedures step by step with the aid of high-quality illustrations. The goal is to address the situations that can arise in almost any emergency department throughout the world, enabling the surgeon on call to acquire or sharpen the knowledge and skills needed to deal with acute surgical problems in the most appropriate way. The reader will gain a sound understanding of the most efficient diagnostic modalities, pre-, intra-, and postoperative decision-making, and surgical techniques and issues in particular circumstances. The manual stems from an initiative by members of the European Society of Trauma and Emergency Surgery (ESTES) and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) to set up and formalize Emergency Surgery Courses to provide specific training in emergency and acute care surgery. It represents a didactic accompaniment to the course that will guide the beginner and maintain a certain degree of standardization among the more experienced.