BACKGROUND Pain assessment is highly recommended in patients receiving mechanical ventilation. However, pain intensity and its impact on outcomes in these patients remain obscure. We collected the results of routine pain assessments, utilizing the behavioral pain scale (BPS), from 151 patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Risk factors associated with a pain event, defined as BPS of >5, and...

Prolonged mechanical ventilation results in diaphragmatic atrophy and contractile dysfunction in animals. We hypothesized that mechanical ventilation-induced diaphragmatic atrophy is associated with decreased synthesis of both mixed muscle protein and myosin heavy chain protein in the diaphragm. To test this postulate, adult rats were mechanically ventilated for 6, 12, or 18 hours and diaphragm...