Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam

Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam is Senior Consultant and Head of Critical Care Medicine at Kauvery Hospital, Vadapalani, Chennai, with over two decades of experience in Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam underwent advanced training in Critical Care Medicine at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, where he completed the Indian Diploma in Critical Care Medicine (IDCCM) and Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Critical Care Medicine (PDFCCM). Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam is also a diplomate of the European Diploma in Intensive Care Medicine (EDIC).

As Head of Critical Care Medicine, Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam has played a key role in establishing and developing a multidisciplinary, protocol-driven Critical Care Unit within a JCI- and NABH-accredited hospital. The unit is built on the principles of evidence-based clinical practice, standardised protocols, patient safety, clinical governance, ethical decision-making, and continuous quality improvement.

Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam leads the management of complex critically ill patients across medical and surgical specialties, including patients with severe sepsis and septic shock, acute respiratory failure and ARDS, multiorgan dysfunction, neurological emergencies, severe infections, complex postoperative critical illness, and other life-threatening conditions requiring advanced organ support.

Under the leadership of Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam, the Critical Care Unit provides advanced critical care support, including invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation, lung-protective ventilation strategies, prone positioning for severe ARDS, advanced haemodynamic monitoring and management of circulatory shock, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support for appropriately selected patients.

A major focus of the leadership of Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam is the development of systems and processes for delivering safe, measurable, and high-quality critical care. The ICU systematically monitors key quality indicators, including risk-adjusted clinical outcomes and Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR), healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial utilisation, and other patient-safety metrics.

Structured clinical protocols, multidisciplinary reviews, clinical audits, infection-prevention programmes, antimicrobial-stewardship initiatives, and continuous quality-improvement projects are integral components of the unit’s functioning, with performance evaluated against established national and international standards.

Alongside advanced life-sustaining therapies, Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam emphasises ethical, compassionate, and patient-centred critical care. Structured communication with patients and families, shared decision-making, appropriate goals-of-care discussions, and End-of-Life Care (EOLC) are integral components of critical care practice, ensuring that treatment decisions remain clinically appropriate and aligned with the values and preferences of patients and their families.

The professional interests of Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam include mechanical ventilation and ARDS, haemodynamic monitoring and circulatory shock, sepsis and severe infections, antimicrobial stewardship, point-of-care ultrasonography, ECMO, ICU infection prevention, quality improvement, patient safety, clinical governance, and the development and implementation of evidence-based critical care protocols.

Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam is actively involved in critical care education, clinical research, clinical audits, and quality-improvement initiatives. Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam regularly participates in national and international scientific conferences, continuing medical education programmes, panel discussions, and other academic forums, contributing to professional education and the dissemination of evidence-based critical care practice.

Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam is committed to developing the department as a centre for critical care education, academic training, and research. Plans include establishing structured postgraduate training programmes, including DrNB Critical Care Medicine and IDCCM programmes, along with bedside teaching, structured academic sessions, research mentorship, and protocol-based clinical education.

Beyond clinical and academic responsibilities, Dr. Buddhan Rajarathinam is actively engaged in public health education through digital platforms, including YouTube, creating educational content on intensive care, lifestyle diseases, preventive health, and general healthcare awareness to improve public understanding of critical illness and health-related issues.