Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin
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Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed · Feb 2016
Review[Pain, agitation and delirium in acute respiratory failure].
Avoiding pain, agitation and delirium as well as avoiding unnecessary deep sedation is a powerful yet challenging strategy in critical care medicine. A number of interactions between cerebral function and respiratory function should be regarded in patients with respiratory failure and mechanical ventilation. A cooperative sedation strategy (i.e. patient is awake and free of pain and delirium) is feasible in many patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation. ⋯ While completely disabling spontaneous ventilation with or without neuromuscular blockade is not a standard strategy in ARDS, it might be temporarily required in patients with severe ARDS, who have substantial dyssynchrony or persistent hypoxaemia. Since pain, agitation and delirium compromise respiratory function they should also be regarded during noninvasive ventilation and during ventilator weaning. Pharmacological sedation can have favourable effects in these situations, but should not be given routinely or uncritically.
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Catecholamines with vasopressor and inotropic effects are commonly used in intensive care medicine. The aim of this review is to explain some of the physiologic actions on which a catecholamine therapy is based, but also to elucidate the risks which are associated with an uncritical and excessive use of these drugs. ⋯ Vasopressor therapy with norepinephrine, based on individually applied perfusion parameters (e.g., urine output, lactate), however, seems justified in many conditions of shock and hemodynamic instability during deep analgosedation. In terms of a cardioprotective therapy, the administration of catecholamines, however, should always be reevaluated and titrated to the minimum deemed necessary.
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The administration of sedatives and analgesics on the intensive care unit (ICU) is routine daily practice. The correct discrimination between delirium, pain and anxiety or confusion is essential for the strategy and selection of medication. The correct pain therapy and sedation are essential for patient quality of life on the ICU and for the prognosis. ⋯ The main aim is improvement in the awareness of nursing and medical personnel for pain inducers and pain perception in ICU patients. The classification of pain must be made objectively. Therapeutic targets must be defined and in addition to the correct selection of pain medication, non-pharmacological approaches must also be consistently implemented.
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Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed · Feb 2016
Review[Therapeutic hypothermia in 2015 : Influence of the TTM study on the intensive care procedure after cardiac arrest].
In the 1960s, Peter Safar et al. postulated the benefit of postcardiac arrest hypothermia after successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, therapeutic hypothermia postCPR did not become a standard procedure until the first few years of the new millennium. Various noninvasive and invasive cooling methods are available. Generally, more invasive cooling methods are more effective-but also tend to involve more complications. Furthermore, invasive measures need more time and thus may be instituted late in the postCPR process, delaying the cooling efforts in the initial phase. There is ongoing controversy about when best to commence cooling. ⋯ Transport of patients after CPR to specialized postcardiac arrest centres with the possibility of acute PCI and cooling, comparable to the transfer of multiple trauma patients to trauma centres, may be beneficial.