Procedures

Procedures are a significant part of what drives physicians to choose to practice critical care medicine. Intensivists from every background commonly describe the expectation to perform procedures under pressure and with accuracy as means through which they gain satisfaction from their profession. Understanding the myriad of possible indications and complications of the procedures that we are called on to perform as intensivists is clearly critical to the safe practice of intensive care medicine, and the reader can expect questions pertaining to this content of the examination. The authors strive to include clinical scenarios that could practically be seen at the bedside and on the examination. A healthy amount of humility is required to perform procedures as safely as possible; if the authors are successful, following reading this chapter, the readers will more likely exhibit such humility than afore.