Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Critical Care Medicine is one of the earliest comprehensive critical illness treatment centers established in Zhejiang Province. Its academic team, hardware facilities, teaching, research, and other capabilities are strong, with outstanding achievements, and it holds an academic benchmark position in the field of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine for critical illnesses both inside and outside the province. The department consists of the ICU of the Hubin Campus, the ICU of the Qiantang Campus, and the Department of Critical Care Rehabilitation of the Xixi Campus. The department fully leverages the strengths of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine and has extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of critical illnesses, including severe pneumonia, sepsis, acute gastrointestinal injury, fulminant myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, severe multiple trauma, perioperative management after various types of major surgery, complicated intra-abdominal infection, massive gastrointestinal bleeding, severe acute pancreatitis, abdominal compartment syndrome, severe metabolic or electrolyte disorders, poisoning, severe craniocerebral diseases, and multiple-organ failure such as shock, respiratory failure, and renal failure caused by various etiologies. It undertakes the rescue of the vast majority of emergency and critically ill patients in the hospital. The diseases treated cover critical illnesses in all specialties. It is the main line of defense for rescuing critically ill patients in the hospital and also undertakes referrals from hospitals outside the medical alliance.

The department currently has more than 150 medical and nursing staff members, including 5 supervisors of master’s and doctoral students. It is a training site for master’s and doctoral students and a postdoctoral station of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. In the past 5 years, it has trained more than 60 master’s and doctoral students and 2 postdoctoral fellows. It served as chief editor and contributing editor for the National Health Commission’s “13th Five-Year Plan” textbooks—“Clinical Research in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Critical Care Medicine” and “Critical Care Medicine.” The department undertakes teaching of “Internal Medicine,” “Western Medical Diagnostics,” and “Emergency and Critical Care Medicine” for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, as well as teaching for trainees in the national standardized residency training program. It provides instruction to more than 400 standardized training trainees each year and also undertakes practical skills training and assessment in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It has been rated an excellent teaching department for 8 consecutive years.

Technical Advantages

The department routinely carries out essential specialized technologies, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), electrical impedance tomography (EIT), critical care ultrasound, hemodynamic monitoring (PICCO), continuous cardiac output and oxygen metabolism monitoring, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), plasma exchange, hemoperfusion, mechanical ventilation, bronchoscopy, and individualized bedside rehabilitation, and is at the leading level in the field of critical care in the province. In the 2024 medical skills competition organized by the Zhejiang Federation of Trade Unions, the department won second place in the team competition for continuous renal replacement therapy, second place in the ECMO team competition, and first place in the individual competition. The ECMO team has also extended its services to local hospitals and received high praise.

The department focuses on sepsis, a common emergency and critical illness, as its principal area of research. It fully applies traditional Chinese medicine theories and methods to the diagnosis and treatment of acute gastrointestinal injury (pi fullness) in sepsis, severe pneumonia (wheezing disorder), shock (syncope and collapse), and other conditions. Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine approaches are used for early warning and intervention in sepsis and for organ function support during the critical stage. The department has summarized traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic methods, classification characteristics, and diagnosis and treatment protocols, achieving significant therapeutic effects, and has initially established clinical diagnosis and treatment standards for sepsis based on integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Academic Standing

The department is a designated institution for the national development of advantageous traditional Chinese medicine specialties, a key specialty under the national Traditional Chinese Medicine “12th Five-Year Plan,” a key discipline of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Zhejiang Province, an advantageous discipline of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the Youth Pioneer Unit of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. It is the chairing institution of the Critical Care Medicine Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association, the chairing institution of the Infection Disease Professional Committee of the Zhejiang Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, and the vice-chairing institution of the Critical Care Rehabilitation Committee of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine. It has established good academic relations with the United States, Germany, Japan, and other countries, and has conducted international exchange and cooperation with Walvis Bay Hospital in Namibia, dispatching experts to establish an ICU and provide guidance. It has also participated in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative. It has organized national continuing education programs for 12 consecutive years and has received high recognition from the profession.

Research Achievements

Over the past 5 years, the department has led 5 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1 “Pioneer Leading Goose” project, 1 major jointly funded project and 2 key projects of provincial departments and bureaus, and more than 10 provincial- and ministerial-level projects and more than 50 projects at the department- and bureau-level. It has published more than 200 academic papers, including more than 100 SCI papers and more than 10 papers in Top journals; served as chief editor or contributing editor of 5 books; and led the formulation of 3 Chinese expert consensuses. It has received 1 Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award and more than 10 provincial science and technology progress awards and department- and bureau-level awards; obtained 3 national invention patents and more than 10 utility model patents, of which 2 have been transferred for application.