Acetazolamide is the commonly prescribed oral and intravenous carbonic anhydrase inhibitor; over the years, its use in clinical practice has decreased in favor of more recent drugs. However, it is a rather handy drug, which can be useful in several clinical settings when managing critically ill patients. The objective of this review is the evaluation of the most recent evidence on the use of acetazolamide in emergency medicine and critical care medicine. Furthermore, the safety profile of this drug has been evaluated. This is a narrative review on the use of acetazolamide in the main contexts in which this drug can be useful in emergency situations for patients with potential critical issues. For the timeline 1999-2024, a search was conducted on the main scientific platforms; resources of greatest relevance for the use of acetazolamide in critical care and emergency medicine were selected. The most common emergency situations in which a critically ill patient could benefit from acetazolamide therapy are acute heart failure, acute mountain sickness, post hypercapnic metabolic alkalosis, idiopathic intracranial hypertension and acute angle-closure glaucoma. In a few cases, however, randomized controlled clinical trials have been conducted. There are also other less solid indications based mostly on experience or retrospective data. Acetazolamide seems to be an overall safe drug; serious side effects are rare and can be avoided by carefully selecting the patients to be treated. Acetazolamide represents a precious resource for emergency physicians and intensivists; critical patients with different conditions can in fact benefit from it; furthermore, acetazolamide is a safe drug if administered to correctly selected patients.

Hybrid operating room represents nowadays an important tool in the management of a constantly increasing number of complex surgical procedures which necessitate appropriate settings in order to be performed safely. We herein present the peculiarities and applications of such a versatile operating environment which is capable of guaranteeing the best performances in terms of equipment and imaging tools respecting the standards of asepsis that a simple angiographic room could not offer. In particular, we focus on its relevance in the field of complex vascular pathology, and on the importance of setting an appropriate management process in order to make the most of its potentialities without sacrificing the not negligible costs connected to it.