Intensive Care
Patients in the interdisciplinary intensive care unit are monitored, diagnosed and treated with a diverse array of disciplines including surgery, internal medicine and gynaecology.
A patient may receive intensive care for several reasons:
- for a life-threatening condition (e.g., heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, pneumonia)
- after a serious accident
- when a patient needs special monitoring for several hours or days following surgery
- for deterioration in health while being treated in another ward
The benefit of modern intensive care is its ability to give a better chance of survival to those suffering from life-threatening conditions. There is some associated risk of "overtreating" a patient who does not wish to receive further treatment. This is not caused by the technology itself, but rather by those who carry out such procedures with the best of intentions. The use of modern technology for the wellbeing of sick people is therefore an ethical question central to intensive care. The intensive care therapy team is always willing to answer questions about this topical and uniquely personal issue.
The unit has nine beds equipped with networked patient monitors that can record and store all non-invasive and invasive parameters. In addition to artificial respiration and artificial kidney systems (haemofiltration / haemodialysis), the unit has also established methods of right heart catheterisation as well as transient pacemaker implantation.
