European journal of anaesthesiology. Supplement
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Postanoxic coma is a state of unconsciousness caused by global anoxia of the brain, most commonly due to cardiac arrest. Outcome after postanoxic coma lasting more than several hours is generally, but not invariably, poor. Recovery of consciousness reported in the literature varies from 8% to 72% of patients, but is mostly thought to be around 20-30% in patients surviving in coma for at least 24 h. ⋯ Poor outcome was defined as death, coma or severe disability after 6 months. The following factors were found to reliably predict this outcome: myoclonic status epilepticus within the first 24 h, absent pupillary responses after 24 h, absent corneal reflexes after 48 h, motor response to pain absent or extensor after 72 h and absent somatosensory evoked potentials (as defined above) after 1-3 days. Results for biochemical parameters (such as neuron-specific enolase) and neuroimaging are inconclusive.
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In 1892 Osler described 'rapid loss of flesh' in prolonged sepsis. Thereafter, for years, limb weakness was attributed to cachectic myopathy, and difficulty weaning from mechanical ventilation was attributed to diaphragmatic fatigue. In 1961 Mertens described 'coma-polyneuropathies', and in 1971 Henderson and colleagues described polyneuropathy in patients with burns. ⋯ Moreover, a number of investigators reported instances of critical illness myopathy. Comprehensive studies by Latronico and colleagues indicated that polyneuropathy and myopathy often occurred together in the same patient. With successful treatment of sepsis, improvement often occurred in encephalopathy, polyneuropathy and myopathy, except in very severe cases.
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This article will discuss the challenges related to the demonstration of the efficacy of monitoring in an intensive care environment. It will address interpretation, therapeutic intervention, sample size and compare efficacy to effectiveness in the context of the developing field of neurocritical care.