Clinical Pharmacology
Critically ill patients often require surgical procedures and therapeutic interventions that produce significant pathophysiologic changes. Drug pharmacology can be greatly altered in this population wherein comorbid diseases, varied organ function, and polypharmacy can produce adverse drug reactions (ADRs). This review aims to describe basic pharmacokinetic principles (absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination) and changes in these processes due to altered organ function in critically ill surgical patients. This knowledge is a key factor in reducing ADRs. This review contains 10 figures, 2 tables, 101 references Keywords: adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, obesity, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, plasma protein binding, therapeutic drug monitoring