The interplay of pain, discomfort, and fear can cause agitation in critically ill children. Therefore, sedation and analgesia are essential components in the intensive care unit setting and are best managed with a multidisciplinary team approach. No one standard approach exists to assess and manage pain and anxiety. Many tools are available for the assessment of pain and sedation, but each tool...

Over the last 10 years, there has been an explosion of literature surrounding sedation management for critically ill patients. The clinical target has moved away from an unconscious and immobile patient toward a goal of light or no sedation and early mobility. The move away from terms such as 'sedation' toward more patient-centered and symptom-based control of pain, anxiety, and agitation makes...

Background Identifying risk factors for unplanned extubation in patients receiving mechanical ventilation can help guide prevention strategies. Objective To assess the risk of unplanned extubation with different sedation strategies. Methods A 36-month quality improvement study in a 33-bed intensive care unit at a tertiary-care center. Results A total of 92 unplanned extubations occurred (7.5 ev...

Background: Postoperative delirium (POD) is a serious complication with detrimental economic and social effects. POD associated longer hospital stay higher mortality.1 This study aimed to investigate the incidence, independent risk factors, outcomes of after emergency laparotomy (EL). Methods: observational cohort perioperative in older patients ≥65 yr undergoing EL at Queen Elizabeth Hospital,...

Sedation has become an important part of critical care practice in minimizing patient discomfort and agitation during mechanical ventilation. Pain, anxiety, and delirium form a triad of factors that can lead to agitation. Achieving and maintaining an optimal level of comfort and safety in the intensive care unit plays an essential part in caring for critically ill patients. Sedatives, opioids, ...

INTRODUCTION Smoking is highly addictive, and nicotine abstinence is associated with withdrawal syndrome in hospitalized patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of sudden nicotine abstinence on the development of agitation and delirium, and on morbidities and outcomes in critically ill patients who required respiratory support, either noninvasive ventilation or intubation, and ...

BACKGROUND: Although the principles of postoperative multimodal analgesia have been discussed in several articles, this issue remains insufficiently studied pediatric cardiac surgery.
 AIM: To increase effectiveness analgosedation children after heart surgery by combining intravenous dexmedetomidine and paracetamol.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective, nonrandomized, controlled study ...

BACKGROUND Mechanically ventilated patients may receive more sedation during the night than during the day, potentially delaying extubation. We compared nighttime and daytime benzodiazepine and opioid administration in adult patients enrolled in a multicenter sedation trial comparing protocolized sedation alone or protocolized sedation combined with daily sedation interruption; and we evaluated...

INTRODUCTION Deep sedation in critically ill patients is associated with a longer duration of mechanical ventilation and a prolonged length of stay in the intensive care unit. Several protocols have been used to improve these outcomes. We implement and evaluate an analgesia-based, goal-directed, nurse-driven sedation protocol used to treat critically ill patients who receive mechanical ventilat...