Gastroenterology

Gastrointestinal and hepatic disease is seen as a complicating factor for some of the most acute and chronically ill patients in the intensive care domain. These patients are not only academically challenging but also clinically challenging and commonly fall into the practice of general surgery as well as hepatology. This chapter reviews the laboratory and clinical presentations of these patients, along with discussion pertaining to common sources of morbidity. Furthermore, scoring systems and acuity markers for these patients are reviewed, along with practical management approaches. Disturbances in the gastrointestinal system are a hallmark of the perioperative patient and should be expected on the examination and in practice.