Critical care of the vascular surgery patient

The wide spectrum of vascular surgical patients presents a unique challenge to the intensivist. These patients, often with multiple significant comorbidities, are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for restoration of their preoperative physiological homeostasis and for the monitoring and management of a variety of complications that may occur. This article focuses on the need for ICU in these patients, the key aspects of monitoring and pain management, and the detection and management of some of the more common complications in the postoperative period.