Intensive care "Sans Frontières"

The specialty of intensive care has made remarkable progress in a relatively short time. Intensive care units (ICUs) now play a crucial role in acute hospitals, supporting patients who have life-threatening conditions, such as trauma and severe infections, as well as maintaining life after major surgery. Since the earliest admissions, there has been a subtle but compelling change in the nature of patients admitted to hospitals and ICUs who are now older with increasing number of co-morbidities and undergo more complex interventions with a higher incidence of complications. This chapter will discuss some of the implications of the changing hospital population.