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Drugs and Medications

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Mechanical Ventilation in the Critically Ill Obese Patient

Abstract

Obesity is becoming one of the major health problems across the world [1]. The risks involved with being overweight or obese are related to the deposition of adipose tissue (adiposity) that is associated with increased risk of adverse health problems. Dosing medications in obese subjects is a challenge as these patients are often excluded from many premarketing clinical drug trials. Current dosage recommendations for most drugs for obese patients are most often inferred from normal-weight persons. As the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of many drugs are altered by the disproportional increase of adiposity relative to lean body mass in morbid obesity, dosing based on total body weight could lead to the risk of overdose and serious clinical complications. An individualised dosing scalar that takes into account the changed body composition should be used in MO patient, particularly in anaesthesia and intensive care.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia

    Clement Lee & Kate Millington

  2. Oxford Sleep Unit, Respiratory Department, Churchil Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7LE, UK

    Ari Manuel

Authors
  1. Clement Lee
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  2. Kate Millington
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  3. Ari Manuel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clement Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Intensive Care and Non Invasive Ventilatory Unit, Hospital Morales Meseguer, Murcia, Spain

    Antonio M. Esquinas

  2. Dept Respiratory and CC Medicine, Schaffner Hospital, Lens, France

    Malcolm Lemyze

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Lee, C., Millington, K., Manuel, A. (2018). Drugs and Medications. In: Esquinas, A., Lemyze, M. (eds) Mechanical Ventilation in the Critically Ill Obese Patient. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49253-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49253-7_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49252-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49253-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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