Sedation and analgesia are vitally important in the comfort and care of the critically ill patient. This book takes a disease-orientated look at the subject and explains how the body's response to drugs changes according to the disease. The book is divided into two sections. The first section gives a subject overview, covering the indications for sedation and analgesia, the pharmacology of sedative and analgesic agents, and ending with an assessment of sedation. The second focuses on different types of disease, describing the most effective management of sedation and analgesia for particular conditions. Areas covered include cardiac surgery, mechanical ventilation, renal failure, extremes of age, sepsis and trauma.