Principles of Critical Care > Part V. Infectious Disorders > Chapter 57. Gastrointestinal Infections Stephen G. Weber

Key Points

"While rarely severe enough to warrant admission to the ICU, gastrointestinal infections account for substantial morbidity and mortality among critically ill patients. Because of severe comorbid disease, impaired immune defenses, and the invasive interventions to which they are subjected, patients in the ICU are especially susceptible to hospital-acquired GI infection. Nevertheless, despite the frequency with which these infections occur, the morbidity and mortality that they cause, and the costs they incur, GI infections can go undetected and untreated in the ICU. While trying to manage patients with deteriorating cardiac function, marginal ventilatory performance, and life-threatening metabolic abnormalities, clinicians in the ICU may fail to recognize the important early signs of GI infection...."