ICU and Perioperative Medicine
1. Post-Operative Care Basics
UpToDate provides a comprehensive overview of post-anesthetic care for adult patients, including PACU monitoring, recovery priorities, and discharge considerations. It highlights key post-operative concerns such as airway/respiratory status, hemodynamics, pain control, nausea, and readiness for safe transfer.
MDCalc provides an easy-to-use Aldrete Score calculator for assessing readiness for discharge from the PACU. It summarizes key recovery domains including activity, respiration, circulation, consciousness, and oxygen saturation.
This open-access source provides a practical overview of common PACU complications and early post-operative concerns, such as airway obstruction, hypoxia, hypotension, pain, nausea/vomiting, and delayed emergence.
2. Critical Care Foundations
Video 1
Mechanical Ventilation Explained
This video explains the basics of mechanical ventilation, including ventilator settings, modes, and how they apply to respiratory failure. It is a useful introductory resource for learners building a foundation in ICU airway and ventilation management.
Video 2
Mechanical Ventilation Playlist
This mechanical ventilation playlist provides a more comprehensive walkthrough of ventilator physiology, modes, settings, and bedside troubleshooting. It is helpful for learners who want to build a deeper understanding of ventilation.
Video 3
High-Yield Guide To Ventilators In The ICU
This video reviews ventilator concepts relevant to critically ill patients, focusing on high-yield clinical pearls relevant to medical students.
This resource provides 1-page visual summaries of core critical care topics, including ventilation, shock, fluids, vasopressors, sedation, and organ support. It is a helpful quick-reference resource for learners who want high-yield ICU concepts presented in a comprehensive visual format.
EMCrit’s Internet Book of Critical Care provides an in-depth, clinically oriented approach to fluid resuscitation in critically ill patients.
Merck Manual provides a clear overview of intravenous fluid resuscitation, including indications, fluid choices, and general principles for treating hypovolemia and shock. It is a concise reference for understanding how fluids are used to restore perfusion in critically ill patients.
3. ICU Monitoring and Interventions
Critical Care Time is a podcast series that provides a practical intro to vasopressors, including when they are used, how they support blood pressure, and how clinicians think through pressor choice and titration. It is a helpful resource for understanding hemodynamic support in critically ill patients and an overall helpful resource for critical care.
Arterial Line Video Series
Arterial lines are used for continuous BP monitoring and bedside decision-making. This arterial line video series provides a step-by-step introduction to arterial line basics, waveform interpretation, setup, insertion/removal, assessment, and troubleshooting. It is useful for learners who want a practical understanding of how A-lines are used for continuous blood pressure monitoring and bedside decision-making.
This website explains the arterial pressure waveform, including the systolic upstroke, dicrotic notch, diastolic pressure, and factors that influence waveform shape. It is a useful physiology-based resource for understanding how arterial line waveforms reflect cardiac function, vascular tone, and measurement conditions.
Video 1
Arterial Line Basics
Video 4
The Arterial Line Setup
Video 2
The Arterial Line Waveform
Video 5
Insertion & Removal of Arterial Lines
Video 3
Common Changes in Arterial Line Waveforms
Video 6
Arterial Line Assessment
4. Post-Op Complications and Emergencies
Concise ICU infographics on common emergencies and management principles, including shock, sepsis, respiratory failure, and hemodynamic support. It is a useful quick-reference resource for reviewing high-yield postoperative and ICU complications in a visual format.
LITFL provides a practical overview of ICU delirium, including risk factors, clinical features, subtypes, screening tools, and management strategies. It is helpful for understanding how delirium presents in critically ill or postoperative patients and how clinicians can approach delirium management.
The University of Toronto Anesthesia for Medical Students handbook provides a learner-friendly overview of perioperative care and anesthesia-related complications. Starting from page 285, post-anesthetic complications can be reviewed.
5. Ethics, Handover, and Prognostication
This short guide provides a helpful framework and dialogue examples for approaching ICU goals-of-care conversations with clarity and compassion.
This resource provides video examples of goals-of-care and prognosis discussions, demonstrating communication strategies such as asking permission, exploring values, and responding to emotion. It is helpful for learners who want to see examples of how serious illness conversations can be approached in a clinical setting.
6. Perioperative Blood Management
Choosing Wisely Canada hosts Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine videos that explain key recommendations for appropriate transfusion practice. These videos are useful for reviewing blood stewardship principles and avoiding unnecessary transfusions.
UpToDate provides a comprehensive overview of perioperative blood management strategies, including preoperative anemia optimization, intraoperative blood conservation, and restrictive transfusion approaches.
WFSA summarizes the core pillars of perioperative patient blood management, including diagnosing and treating anemia, minimizing blood loss, and optimizing coagulation. There are other resources integrated through this site that are informative about perioperative blood management.
7. Resuscitation
Video 1
How to Perform The Primary Survey in Trauma
This video explains how to perform the primary survey in trauma using an organized ABCDE approach.