Pulmonary edema in trauma

The trauma patient who reaches the operation room is usually hemodynamically unstable with a number of organ systems already compromised. In addition to the continuous effort at stabilization of all these organ systems, the anesthesiologist must induce, maintain, and reverse anesthesia. Such a feat demands accurate patient assessment, aggressive preparation, judicious choice and dosage of anesthetic agents, and careful intraoperative monitoring. The major steps and current controversies of each of these stages in the anesthetic management of the trauma patient are discussed in this chapter.