intensive care unit

medicine
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Also known as: ICU, critical care unit
Also called:
critical care unit

intensive care unit, hospital facility for care of critically ill patients at a more intensive level than is needed by other patients. Staffed by specialized personnel, the intensive care unit contains a complex assortment of monitors and life-support equipment that can sustain life in once-fatal situations, including adult respiratory distress syndrome, kidney failure, multiple organ failure, and sepsis (see septicemia).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Robert Lewis.