Medicina intensiva
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Once analgesia is assured, sedation has special relevance in the critically ill ventilated patient's global treatment. Sedatives should be adjusted to individual needs, by administering minimal effective doses to achieve the AIM. This aim must be clearly identified, defined at the beginning of the treatment and revised on a regular basis, ideally at least once per shift. ⋯ This Spanish Society of Critical Care Medicine's Analgesia and Sedation Work Group recommends the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale, due to its interrelationship with the Confusion Assessment Method Scale (CAM-ICU), for sedation monitoring in patients under light sedation while it recommends bispectral index sedation monitoring in patients under deep sedation. In the latter case, maintaining values under 40 on the bispectral index doesn't produce any benefits except in patients who require a maximum decrease in neuronal metabolism. To avoid recall phenomena, bispectral monitoring is highly advisable in patients treated with neuromuscular blockers.
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There is a wide intra- and inter-individual variability in sedative dose requirements in mechanically ICU patients. Patient's heterogeneity, the frequent and variable organic dysfunctions, the drug interactions and the possibility of metabolite accumulation could explain this variability. However, this fact must not justify the use of excessive doses to achieve the goals of sedation. ⋯ This SEMICYUC Analgesia and Sedation Work Group recommends not administering more than 4.5 mg/kg/h of propofol or 0.25 mg/kg/h of midazolam. The need to use more than these doses should force a change in the sedative or the combined administration of both. Depending on the clinical situation or the clinical patient's evolution, the use of clonidine, haloperidol or remifentanil could be better options.
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Neuromuscular blockade monitoring aims should be based on effectiveness criteria, that is, to administer the lowest effective dose, and on security criteria, avoiding overdosage and detecting possible residual blockade before patient extubation. A neuromuscular blockade monitoring and usage protocol should be available with predefined objectives for each patient to achieve the minimum effective doses. Maintenance of a light blockade level probably influences the decrease in complications associated with these drugs' use. ⋯ Ensuring adequate sedation and analgesia in a paralysed patient is essential. An inadequately sedated but paralysed patient may subsequently suffer serious psychological and emotional stress. Bispectral index monitoring with sedative doses adjusted to 40-60 values assures, in most situations, correct sedation.
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The epidural analgesia is one of the most effective techniques for pain relief when it is indicated, but it can present potentially serious complications that must precociously be diagnosed and be treated. In the Critical Care setting, epidural analgesia is used for pain control after surgery or major trauma. ⋯ Also the clonidine can be used. In order to diagnose and to treat suitably the possible complications (pain, urinary retention, nauseas and vomits, itching, motor block, infection, respiratory depression, hypotension) a series of safety measures must be adopted (respiratory and heart rate, blood pressure, sedation score, sensory and motor level assessment, rate of diuresis, temperature and signs of infection).
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The basic concepts of sedation and analgesia and the tools to asses the level of sedation and analgesia are review. The different methods of sedation and the non pharmacological interventions are described. ⋯ The etiology of patient-ventilator asynchrony in ventilated children and how to treat it are analyzed, giving guides of how to adapt sedation to the level of mechanical ventilation therapy. Finally, general recommendations are given for the analgesia and sedation in mechanically ventilated children.