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2.3 - How to Undertake Timely and Appropriate Investigations

from Section 2 - Diagnosis, Assessment, Investigation, Monitoring and Data Interpretation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

By
Claire Moorthy
Edited by
Ned Gilbert-Kawai ,
Debashish Dutta  and
Carl Waldmann
Ned Gilbert-Kawai
Affiliation:
The Royal Liverpool Hospital
Debashish Dutta
Affiliation:
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Harlow
Carl Waldmann
Affiliation:
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
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Summary

Key Learning Points

  1. 1. Rationalise investigations in view of the clinical context.

  2. 2. Baseline blood tests are often justified in the critically ill.

  3. 3. Use investigations to confirm and refute diagnoses.

  4. 4. Obtain specialist advice as to the most appropriate test to use in complex cases.

  5. 5. Do not forget to investigate for ‘do-not-miss diagnoses’.

Keywords

critical careclinical investigationlaboratory monitoring
Type
Chapter
Information
Intensive Care Medicine
The Essential Guide
 , pp. 27 - 28
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

References and Further Reading

Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and Intensive Care Society. Section 3.5: Interaction with other services: microbiology, pathology, liaison psychiatry and radiology. In: Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services, 2nd edn. 2019; pp. 88–90.Google Scholar
Singer, M, Webb, AR. Laboratory monitoring. In: Singer, M, Webb, AR (eds). Oxford Handbook of Critical Care, 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009; pp. 148–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Association for Clinical Biochemistry & Laboratory Medicine. Lab Tests Online-UK. labtestsonline.org.ukGoogle Scholar

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