Nicardipine (Cardene) is a short acting, dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (CCB) I frequently use in the perioperative and ICU settings for tight blood pressure control through afterload reduction primarily at the arteriolar level. Although it comes as an oral agent, I almost exclusively use it as a continuous intravenous (IV)…
Although the use of pulmonary artery catheters (PACs, otherwise known as Swan-Ganz catheters) has never been shown to confer a mortality benefit, they are still routinely used in operating rooms and intensive care units to help guide resuscitation, monitor pulmonary artery pressures (PAP), differentiate mixed shock states, assess continuous cardiac…
Vasopressin, otherwise known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is a peptide hormone synthesized in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary gland. Its physiologic effects include vascular smooth muscle constriction (via V1 receptors, PLC-IP3 and calcium pathway) and free water retention (via V2 receptors, cAMP/PKA pathway).
