Sedation and analgesia in the ICU

2020 ◽  
pp. 3898-3905
Author(s):  
Michael C. Reade

Patients undergoing mechanical ventilation or other forms of invasive organ support in an intensive care unit should ideally be free of pain, anxiety, and delirium, sufficiently cooperative or sedated to enable safe delivery of essential aspects of their care; sufficiently awake such that tracheal extubation is not unnecessarily delayed; and left with few or no unpleasant memories of their illness and treatment. This ideal is often not achieved. Management should be based on an analgesia-first, delirium-control, sedation-minimization approach. Identifying intensive care unit-associated delirium is not straightforward: most delirious intensive care patients are not agitated, and ‘hypoactive’ delirium can mask substantial psychological distress. Various assessment scales can be used to quantitate, monitor, and communicate sedation and sedation goals, and similar tools can be employed to identify delirium.

Critical Care ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Delaney ◽  
E. Litton ◽  
K. L. Melehan ◽  
H.-C. C. Huang ◽  
V. Lopez ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sleep amongst intensive care patients is reduced and highly fragmented which may adversely impact on recovery. The current challenge for Intensive Care clinicians is identifying feasible and accurate assessments of sleep that can be widely implemented. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and reliability of a minimally invasive sleep monitoring technique compared to the gold standard, polysomnography, for sleep monitoring. Methods Prospective observational study employing a within subject design in adult patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit. Sleep monitoring was undertaken amongst minimally sedated patients via concurrent polysomnography and actigraphy monitoring over a 24-h duration to assess agreement between the two methods; total sleep time and wake time. Results We recruited 80 patients who were mechanically ventilated (24%) and non-ventilated (76%) within the intensive care unit. Sleep was found to be highly fragmented, composed of numerous sleep bouts and characterized by abnormal sleep architecture. Actigraphy was found to have a moderate level of overall agreement in identifying sleep and wake states with polysomnography (69.4%; K = 0.386, p < 0.05) in an epoch by epoch analysis, with a moderate level of sensitivity (65.5%) and specificity (76.1%). Monitoring accuracy via actigraphy was improved amongst non-ventilated patients (specificity 83.7%; sensitivity 56.7%). Actigraphy was found to have a moderate correlation with polysomnography reported total sleep time (r = 0.359, p < 0.05) and wakefulness (r = 0.371, p < 0.05). Bland–Altman plots indicated that sleep was underestimated by actigraphy, with wakeful states overestimated. Conclusions Actigraphy was easy and safe to use, provided moderate level of agreement with polysomnography in distinguishing between sleep and wakeful states, and may be a reasonable alternative to measure sleep in intensive care patients. Clinical Trial Registration number ACTRN12615000945527 (Registered 9/9/2015).


2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 408-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Yin Chang ◽  
Kai-Wei Katherine Wang ◽  
Yann-Fen Chao

Background Unplanned extubation commonly occurs in intensive care units. Various physical restraints have been used to prevent patients from removing their endotracheal tubes. However, physical restraint not only does not consistently prevent injury but also may be a safety hazard to patients. Objectives To evaluate the effect of physical restraint on unplanned extubation in adult intensive care patients. Methods A total of 100 patients with unplanned extubations and 200 age-, sex-, and diagnosis-matched controls with no record of unplanned extubation were included in this case-control study. The 300 participants were selected from a population of 1455 patients receiving mechanical ventilation during a 21-month period in an adult intensive care unit at a medical center in Taiwan. Data were collected by reviewing medical records and incident reports of unplanned extubation. Results The incidence rate of unplanned extubation was 8.7%. Factors associated with increased risk for unplanned extubation included use of physical restraints (increased risk, 3.11 times), nosocomial infection (increased risk, 2.02 times), and a score of 9 or greater on the Glasgow Coma Scale on admission to the unit (increased risk, 1.98 times). Episodes of unplanned extubation also were associated with longer stays in the unit. Conclusions An impaired level of consciousness on admission to the intensive care unit and the presence of nosocomial infection intensify the risk for unplanned extubation, even when physical restraints are used. To minimize the risk of unplanned extubation, nurses must establish better standards for using restraints.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-144
Author(s):  
Ashleigh Malinowski ◽  
Neal J. Benedict ◽  
Meng-Ni Ho ◽  
Levent Kirisci ◽  
Sandra L. Kane-Gill

Background Patient-reported outcomes are essential to understand the relationship between patients’ perception of sedation and clinicians’ assessments of sedation. Objectives To evaluate the association between sedation and agitation indexes and patient-reported outcomes of sedation and analgesia. Methods This prospective, single-center, observational study included adult patients who were continuously sedated for at least 24 hours in a medical or surgical/ trauma intensive care unit. Patients were interviewed after sedation was discontinued regarding their satisfaction with the quality of sedation and potentially related factors. The primary outcome was the correlation between sedation and agitation indexes and patient-reported outcomes. Results A total of 68 patients were interviewed after sedation. Of these, 29 (42.6%) described their overall feelings about their experience while receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit as "pleasant". When asked about their desires if they were to experience the situation again, 29 patients (42.6%) reported that they would want more sedation. Agitation index was statistically significantly correlated with several patient-reported outcomes. Receiving mechanical ventilation (r = 0.41, P = .002), the amount of noise (r = 0.34, P = .01), suctioning (r = 0.32, P = .02), difficulty resting or sleeping (r = 0.39, P = .003), inability to communicate by talking (r = 0.36, P = .008), anxiety (r = 0.29, P = .03), panic (r = 0.3, P = .02), and frustration (r = 0.47, P &lt; .001) were associated with a higher agitation index. Conclusion Agitation index was significantly associated with several patient-reported outcomes and thus seems to be a promising descriptor of patients’ experience.


Author(s):  
Matt Wise ◽  
Paul Frost

The intensive care unit (ICU) can be defined as an area reserved for patients with potential or established organ failure and has the facilities for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of multi-organ failure. Usually, the ICU is located in close proximity to A & E, the radiology department, and the operating theatres, as it is between these areas that patient flows are greatest. In large urban hospitals, there may be more than one ICU, some of which serve specific patient populations, such as paediatrics, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, liver failure, and burns. Many hospitals also have high-dependency units (HDUs) that offer higher nurse-to-patient ratios and more advanced monitoring than a general wards does, as well as limited organ support. In the UK, the distinctions between ICU, HDU, and general ward have been abandoned in favour of a classification based on the patient’s needs rather than their location.


2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (8) ◽  
pp. 688-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Glibbery ◽  
K Karamali ◽  
C Walker ◽  
I Fitzgerald O'Connor ◽  
B Fish ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesTo report feasibility, early outcomes and challenges of implementing a 14-day threshold for undertaking surgical tracheostomy in the critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 patient.MethodsTwenty-eight coronavirus disease 2019 patients underwent tracheostomy. Demographics, risk factors, ventilatory assistance, organ support and logistics were assessed.ResultsThe mean time from intubation to tracheostomy formation was 17.0 days (standard deviation = 4.4, range 8–26 days). Mean time to decannulation was 15.8 days (standard deviation = 9.4) and mean time to intensive care unit stepdown to a ward was 19.2 days (standard deviation = 6.8). The time from intubation to tracheostomy was strongly positively correlated with: duration of mechanical ventilation (r(23) = 0.66; p < 0.001), time from intubation to decannulation (r(23) = 0.66; p < 0.001) and time from intubation to intensive care unit discharge (r(23) = 0.71; p < 0.001).ConclusionPerforming a tracheostomy in coronavirus disease 2019 positive patients at 8–14 days following intubation is compatible with favourable outcomes. Multidisciplinary team input is crucial to patient selection.


2020 ◽  
Vol 145 (15) ◽  
pp. 1057-1062
Author(s):  
Stephanie-Susanne Stecher ◽  
Hans Joachim Stemmler ◽  
Dennis Eichenauer ◽  
Matthias Kochanek ◽  
Alexander Shimabukuro-Vornhagen ◽  
...  

AbstractApprox. 93 % of COVID-19 infections are mild, and not all severely ill patients are transferred to the intensive care unit. But the Corona crisis implies high demands on intensive care medicine. Many treatment modalities of COVID patients are “best practice”, but some aspects remain unclear at present. This article deals with diagnostics, monitoring and therapy with COVID-19 patients in intensive care units and with a suitable hygiene concepts.A hygiene concept is obligatory and must ensure – in addition to general measures – the training of employees and the hygienic discharge of material. Ideally, a cohort isolation is implemented.Monitoring of patients with COVID-19 is not different from other intensive care patients and should be adapted to the clinical situation of the individual patient. In laboratory analysis the typical abnormality of COVID-19 patients should be taken into account. In case of increasing inflammatory parameters, fungal infections should be tested.Due to the formation of aerosols, disconnection of the respiratory system must be avoided in invasive ventilation. If a disconnection from the respirator is necessary, the tube should be disconnected. After extubation, an intermittent NIV treatment for atelectase prophylaxis can be performed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Utuari de Andrade Coelho ◽  
Mirian Watanabe ◽  
Cassiane Dezoti da Fonseca ◽  
Katia Grillo Padilha ◽  
Maria de Fátima Fernandes Vattimo

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the nursing workload in intensive care patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Method: A quantitative study, conducted in an intensive care unit, from April to August of 2015. The Nursing Activities Score (NAS) and Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) were used to measure nursing workload and to classify the stage of AKI, respectively. Results: A total of 190 patients were included. Patients who developed AKI (44.2%) had higher NAS when compared to those without AKI (43.7% vs 40.7%), p <0.001. Patients with stage 1, 2 and 3 AKI showed higher NAS than those without AKI. A relationship was identified between stage 2 and 3 with those without AKI (p = 0.002 and p <0.001). Conclusion: The NAS was associated with the presence of AKI, the score increased with the progression of the stages, and it was associated with AKI, stage 2 and 3.


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