Optimum Sedation and Delirium Assessment in ICU

Delirium and sedation in the ICU.

Delirium is defined by a fluctuating level of attentiveness and has been associated with increased ICU mortality and poor cognitive outcomes in both general ICU and neurocritical care populations. Sedation use in the ICU can contribute to delirium. Limiting ICU sedation allows for the diagnosis of underlying acute neurological insults associated with delirium and leads to shorter mechanical ven...

Delirium in the ICU

Delir ium is a disturbance of consciousness delirium. However till recently, the diagnosis of delirium characterized by acute onset, rapid fluctuations in mental in the ICU was imprecise and not standardized, leading status and impaired cognitive functioning. The patient’s to wide variations in the incidence of delirium in various ability to receive, process, store and recall information studie...

Dexmedetomidine sedation in ICU

Dexmedetomidine (DEX), a highly selective α(2)-adrenergic receptor agonist, is the newest agent introduced for sedation in intensive care unit (ICU). The sedation strategy for critically ill patients has stressed light sedation with daily awakening and assessment for neurologic, cognitive, and respiratory functions, since Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) guidelines were presented in 200...

Sedation in the ICU: Shifts and Strategies

Sedation and neuromuscular blockade in the ICU.

A the key innovations of critical care medicine is treatment directed by continuously measured objective physiologic data. A prime example is the dosing of vasopressors using continuous measurements of systemic arterial pressure acquired from an indwelling arterial catheter. Similarly, the settings of mechanical ventilators are based on pressure and volume measurements of airway gases and arter...