Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University was established in 1992. Through many years of joint efforts, the discipline has achieved comprehensive development and is currently among the leading disciplines in the province. It is the chairing institution of the Multi-Organ Function Support Committee of the Anhui Medical Doctor Association. The department has a highly qualified professional team, is equipped with advanced medical equipment, and has developed a series of high-level diagnostic and treatment technologies. It has accumulated extensive experience in treating patients with acute and critical illnesses, and its treatment success rate ranks among the highest in the province.

In 2021, it took the lead in establishing the Critical Care Medicine Departmental Academic System of Anhui Medical University. In 2024, the department applied to establish the Critical Care Medicine micro-major of Anhui Medical University. After submission by the Provincial Department of Education and review and filing by the Ministry of Education, enrollment began in September 2025 to cultivate reserve personnel for critical care medicine.

Main research directions: I. Prevention and treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections. II. Research on the pathogenesis related to sepsis. III. Big-data research in critical care: A critical care big-data platform has been established, with a database covering multiple diseases, including sepsis, severe traumatic brain injury, ECMO, ARDS, and AKI. In 2022, it took the lead in conducting Anhui Province’s first multicenter clinical study on sepsis. IV. Clinical translational research: In cooperation with Anhui University, independent research and development and innovative application of key technologies for practical brain-computer interfaces; in 2024, it received 1 third prize for scientific and technological progress of Anhui Province.

Advanced Technologies:

The department’s distinctive technology is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Given that ECMO is a relatively complex clinical intervention, since independently initiating this technology in May 2018, the number of completed cases has increased year by year; as of June 2025, nearly 380-plus cases had been successfully completed. Multiple classic cases—including Anhui Province’s first helicopter ECMO transport, surgical embolectomy for acute pulmonary embolism with ECMO assistance, and 106 days of long-term ECMO support—have been reported by numerous media outlets, including the Economic and Life Channel of Anhui Television, Anqing Net, and Zhong’an Online, achieving a positive social impact. The department is the leading and chairing institution of the Anhui Province ECMO Critical Care Alliance, as well as the “Demonstration Center for Adsorption-Based Extracorporeal Life Support Technology” of the Extracorporeal Life Support Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association.

Departmental Honors:

Based on its ECMO work, the department received 1 third prize for scientific and technological progress of Anhui Province in 2021 and 1 second prize of the Anhui Medical Science and Technology Award in 2024. It is a specialized training base for critical care in internal medicine and surgery of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and a professional base for standardized residency training in critical care medicine at the national level. It is also a provincial clinical key specialty and a training unit for master’s and doctoral students in critical care medicine.

The department currently has 3 national-level projects under research and more than 10 provincial-level projects under research. In the past three years, it has published more than 100 academic papers, including more than 30 indexed by SCI. It holds more than 30 patents of various types, including invention and utility model patents, and has published 3 monographs. It participated in formulating 4 published national-level diagnostic and treatment standards and guidelines, including: the Chinese Society of Critical Care Medicine’s “Expert Consensus on the Application of Human Serum Albumin in Critically Ill Patients” and “Expert Consensus on Stress Hyperglycemia”; the Hospital Pharmacy Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association’s “Expert Consensus on Antimicrobial Dose Adjustment in Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (2024 Edition)”; and the Extracorporeal Life Support Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association’s “Chinese Expert Consensus on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Patient Brain Monitoring.”