Journal of clinical medicine research
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Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) can be diagnosed using the Medical Research Council (MRC) score. However, such scoring may not be possible in ICU patients who may be sedated or delirious or have encephalopathy. Currently, a quantitative assessment of the cross-sectional area of the muscle is available to assess changes in skeletal muscle mass using computed tomography (CT) images. This assessment calculates the skeletal muscle index (SMI) (cm2/m2) by dividing the cross-sectional area (cm2) of the skeletal muscle at the level of the third lumbar vertebra by the square of the patient's height (m2) on CT. This study assessed the effectiveness of SMI, as measured by abdominal CT scans, in predicting the onset of ICU-AW in patients with sepsis admitted to the ICU. ⋯ Our results show that SMI measurement at ICU admission is a valid predictive factor for ICU-AW progression in septic patients.