類固醇在麻醉及重症醫學上的應用

Use of Corticosteroids in Anesthesia and Critical Care

Cortisol, the primary glucocortisol secreted from the adrenal gland, is a major stress response hormone that has metabolic, anti-inflammatory, and cardiovascular activities in the cardiac muscle as well as in the peripheral vasculature. The action of cortisol is complex and plays major roles in the maintenance of normal physiologic functioning of many organ systems of the body. The importance of cortisol, as a basic requirement for survival in the critically ill patients has been recognized for nearly 2 decades. It is therefore not surprising that clinical applications of corticosteroids have always been an area of interest in both anesthesia and critical care medicine.