Critical care clinics
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2009
ReviewCognitive functioning, mental health, and quality of life in ICU survivors: an overview.
Critical illness can and often does lead to significant cognitive impairment and to the development of psychological disorders. These conditions are persistent and, although they improve with time, often fail to completely abate. ⋯ Potential contributors may include the potentially toxic effects of sedatives and narcotics, delirium, hypoxia, glucose dysregulation, metabolic derangements, and inflammation. Patients with preexisting vulnerabilities, including predisposing genetic factors, and frail elderly populations may be at particular risk for emergence of acceleration of conditions such as mild cognitive impairment.
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The management of critically ill patients necessitates the use of sedatives and analgesics to provide patient comfort and cooperation. These drugs exert profound effects on all organ systems, not only the central nervous system, and this article describes the immunologic effects of the commonly used critical care sedatives: propofol, the benzodiazepines, opioids, and alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonists. Benzodiazepines, opioids, and possibly even propofol worsen outcome in animal models of infection, whereas preliminary evidence suggests that the alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist, dexmedetomidine, may improve outcomes in the setting of infection. Given the burden of sepsis and secondary infections in critical care, choice of sedation may need to be carefully considered to preserve immune responses in critically ill patients.
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2009
ReviewSedation and weaning from mechanical ventilation: linking spontaneous awakening trials and spontaneous breathing trials to improve patient outcomes.
Liberation from mechanical ventilation is a vital treatment goal in the management of critically ill patients. The duration of mechanical ventilation is affected by strategies for ventilator weaning and sedation. The authors review literature on weaning from mechanical ventilation and delivery of sedation in critically ill patients, including current guidelines recommending the use of spontaneous breathing trials and spontaneous awakening trials. Implementation of these strategies in a wake-up-and-breathe protocol has demonstrated benefit over the use of spontaneous breathing trials alone.
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The need for compassionate care of the critically ill often compels clinicians to treat these patients with pharmacologic sedation. Although patients may appear to be asleep under the influence of these sedating medications, the relationship between sleep and sedation is complex and not fully understood. ⋯ Therefore, greater awareness of the effects of these medications on sleep may lead to sedation protocols that further improve outcomes. This article reviews the relationship between sedation and sleep from physiologic and clinical perspectives.
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2009
ReviewPharmacology of commonly used analgesics and sedatives in the ICU: benzodiazepines, propofol, and opioids.
Opioids, benzodiazepines, and propofol remain the mainstay by which to optimize patient comfort and facilitate mechanical ventilation in patients who are critically ill. Unfortunately none of these agents share all of the characteristics of the ideal sedative or analgesic agent: rapid onset, rapid recovery, a predictable dose response, a lack of drug accumulation, and no toxicity. To optimize care, critical care clinicians should be familiar with the many pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pharmacogenetic variables that can affect the safety and efficacy of these sedatives and analgesics.