# Critical care source guide

> **Educational work by a pre-medical student — not medical advice.** Not a clinical protocol, prescription, or patient handout, and not for patient care. See [DISCLAIMER](../DISCLAIMER.md).

Revised 27 October 2026. This selected guide replaces the earlier incomplete bibliography, which included abbreviated titles, ambiguous journal attributions and conflated trials. It is not an exhaustive review. A link identifies the source; it does not establish that every topic in the case bank is covered by a specific recommendation.

## Core sources and their scope

| Source | Use in this portfolio | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| [SCCM/ESICM adult sepsis guideline, 2026](https://sccm.org/clinical-resources/guidelines/guidelines/surviving-sepsis-campaign-international-guidelines-for-management-of-sepsis-and-septic-shock-2026) (Prescott et al.; Intensive Care Med [DOI](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-026-08361-1); co-published in Crit Care Med [DOI](https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000007075); publisher correction [DOI](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-026-08410-9)) | Context for infection, source control and resuscitation questions | Applies to adult sepsis; recommendations have different certainty and conditions |
| [ATS ARDS update, 2024](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10870893/) | Ventilation/rescue evidence appraisal | Conditional interventions are not automatic responses to a ratio |
| [Global definition of ARDS, 2024](https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202303-0558WS) (Matthay et al.) | Definition context alongside the 2012 Berlin definition | Adds SpO2/FiO2 and non-intubated categories; a definition is not a treatment rule |
| [ESICM ARDS guideline, 2023](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00134-023-07050-7) (Grasselli et al.) | European comparator for respiratory-support recommendations | Recommendations differ in places from ATS 2024 |
| [ESICM circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring guideline, 2025](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00134-025-08137-z) (Monnet et al.) | Shock assessment and hemodynamic-monitoring concepts | Population and recommendation strength vary; not a monitoring order set |
| [ATS/ESICM/SCCM ventilation guideline, 2017](https://academic.oup.com/ajrccm/article/195/9/1253/8500154) | Low-tidal-volume ventilation by predicted body weight | Partly superseded: its PEEP, recruitment-maneuver and ECMO questions were re-addressed by ATS 2024 (Qadir et al.); low tidal volume/PBW and prone positioning remain. Trial settings are not universal patient targets |
| [KDIGO AKI guideline, 2012](https://kdigo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/KDIGO-2012-AKI-Guideline-English.pdf) | AKI definitions and renal-support reasoning | 2012 remains the final published guideline; a 2026 KDIGO AKI/AKD update completed public review as a draft in 2026 and is not used as final guidance here (recheck kdigo.org for the final version). A number alone is not a dialysis rule |
| [WATERFALL, 2022](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36103415/) | Appraise aggressive versus moderate fluid strategies in acute pancreatitis | Enrolled population does not represent all postoperative organ failure |
| [STARRT-AKI primary trial, 2020](https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2000741) | Study timing strategies for renal support | Distinguish the trial from correspondence/corrections and from urgent indications |
| [Brain Trauma Foundation severe TBI, fourth edition](https://braintrauma.org/s/Management_of_Severe_TBI_4th_Edition.pdf) | Injury-specific neurophysiology questions; see also the [2020 update of the decompressive craniectomy recommendations](https://doi.org/10.1093/neuros/nyaa278) (Hawryluk et al., Neurosurgery 2020;87:427-434) | Not a universal protocol for all neurologic disease |
| [AHA/ASA aneurysmal SAH guideline, 2023](https://professional.heart.org/en/guidelines-statements/2023-guideline-for-the-management-of-patients-with-aneurysmal-subarachnoidstr0000000000000436) | Appraise aneurysmal-SAH concepts | Distinguish prevention from treatment of symptomatic deterioration |
| [SCCM PADIS focused update, 2025](https://www.sccm.org/clinical-resources/guidelines/guidelines/focused-update-padis-guideline) | Sedation/delirium evidence appraisal | Focused update supplements rather than replaces every earlier topic |
| [ELSO guideline index](https://www.elso.org/ecmo-resources/elso-ecmo-guidelines.aspx) | Find mode- and population-specific ECMO guidance | Not a device-operator manual or proof of candidacy |
| [ELSO adult VA-ECMO interim guideline, 2021](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34339398/) | Distinguish circulatory support questions from respiratory-only support | Configurations and specialist assessment matter |
| [ELSO adult VV-ECMO guideline, 2021](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8315725/) | Gas-exchange and circuit interpretation questions | No standalone circuit adjustment algorithm is reproduced |
| [AMA ethics opinion 5.4](https://code-medical-ethics.ama-assn.org/ethics-opinions/orders-not-attempt-resuscitation-dnar) | Separate resuscitation orders from other preferences | Ethics guidance is not a jurisdiction-specific legal opinion |
| [AAST abdominal compartment syndrome resource](https://www.aast.org/asset/3D6C4F96-B622-46D9-BB88F248129C2E26/) | Clarify pressure plus new organ dysfunction | Pressure alone is insufficient |

## Evidence-appraisal worksheet

For a proposed claim, record the exact source/version, study design, population, intervention/comparator, outcome and time point. Distinguish the source result from your own inference, note uncertainty and identify what is not supported. Record whether you checked the abstract, full text, supplement, corrections and current guideline status.

Sources retain their own copyright. No society algorithm, questionnaire, clinical checklist or article figure is reproduced under the repository license.


## Integrated ICU/CTICU workup sources (28 October 2026)

See the [29-source register](../ICU_CTICU_WORKUP_CASES.md#sources-and-verification-scope) and [per-case source/test mapping](../INTEGRATED_WORKUP_AUDIT.json). Source verification scope and full-text limitations are stated there.


The [procedure-organized CTICU casebook](../CTICU_PROCEDURE_EXAMPLES.md#source-register-and-limits) adds 11 DOI-bearing references for its 18 paired narratives, including thoracic/vascular surgery and transplantation. Verification limits are stated per source.


## Public clinical-care and equipment sources

The [new public-source register](../CLINICAL_CARE_PUBLIC_SOURCES.md) supports worked laboratory, pain/airway/ventilation and equipment examples, and labels guideline, consensus, review and official-device sources separately. It contains 30 entries, including 28 DOI-bearing clinical publications and two FDA sources. It does not revalidate earlier manuscripts.