Selective Digestive Tract Decontamination in Intensive Care Medicine: a Practical Guide to Controlling Infection

• The History of Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract.- The Concept of SDD.- Infections in Critically Ill Patients: Should We Change to a Decontamination Strategy?.- Gut Microbiology: How to Use Surveillance Samples for the Detection of the Carrier Status of Abnormal Flora.- Compounding Medication for Digestive Decontamination: Pharmaceutical Aspects.- Nursing and Practical Aspects in the Application and Implementation of SDD.- The Effects of Hand-Washing, Restrictive Antibiotic Use and SDD on Morbidity.- The Effects of SDD on Mortality.- Antimicrobial Resistance During 20 Years of Clinical SDD Research.- The Costs of SDD.- SDD for the Prevention and Control of Outbreaks.- Preoperative Prophylaxis with SDD in Surgical Patients.- The Role of SDD in Liver Transplantation: a Meta-Analysis.- Do Burn Patients Benefit from Digestive Tract Decontamination?.- How to Design an Antibiotic Strategy That Respects the Indigenous Flora.

From the reviews: "This monograph describes the controversy and clinical benefits reported for selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD). The rationale for SDD and guides to practical implementation for interested practitioners are provided. Senior trainees and critical care practitioners are an appropriate audience for this work which originates from leaders in the practice of SDD ... . Chapters are clearly written and include tables. References date to within one to two years of publication and include most of the preclinical and clinical work done with SDD to this time." (David J. Dries, Doody's Review Service, March, 2008)