title: Using skin for drug delivery and diagnosis in the critically ill.
abstract: Skin offers easy access, convenience and non-invasiveness for drug delivery and diagnosis. In principle, these advantages of skin appear to be attractive for critically ill patients given potential difficulties that may be associated with oral and parenteral access in these patients. However, the profound changes in skin physiology that can be seen in these patients provide a challenge to reliably deliver drugs or provide diagnostic information. Drug delivery through skin may be used to manage burn injury, wounds, infection, trauma and the multisystem complications that rise from these conditions. Local anaesthetics and analgesics can be delivered through skin and may have wide application in critically ill patients. To ensure accurate information, diagnostic tools require validation in the critically ill patient population as information from other patient populations may not be applicable.
authors.affiliation: Therapeutics Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia; Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Department, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0989, USA.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maibach
authors.affiliation: Perinatal Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; UQCCR, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Colditz
authors.affiliation: Therapeutics Research Centre, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; School of Pharmacy & Medical Science, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. Electronic address: m.roberts@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D016638:Critical Illness; D019937:Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012869:Skin Absorption; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Critically ill; Diagnosis; Drug delivery; Intensive care; Skin