We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App




Prolonged ICU Stays Impact Quality of Life

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 24 Apr 2014
Print article
A new study reveals that patients have substantial physical impairments even two years after being discharged from an intensive care unit (ICU).

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU; Baltimore, MD, USA) conducted a prospective observational study involving 222 patients discharged from one of 13 ICUs at four Baltimore (MD, USA) hospitals between October 2004 and October 2007. All patients spent time on a mechanical ventilator as part of their successful treatment for acute lung injury, and underwent evaluation of muscle strength at hospital discharge and also at three, six, 12, and 24 months later.

The results showed that one-third of survivors had muscle weakness at discharge. For every day of bed rest in the ICU, muscle strength was 3%–11% lower over the following months and years. While many saw improvement over time, the weakness was associated with substantial impairments in physical function and quality of life at subsequent follow-up visits. The two variables most associated with muscle weakness were age and the duration of bed rest in the ICU. The study was published in the April 2014 issue of Critical Care Medicine.

“Even a single day of bed rest in the ICU has a lasting impact on weakness, which impacts patients' physical functioning and quality of life,” said lead author Dale Needham, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine and of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the JHU School of Medicine. “We previously thought that bed rest and sedation in an ICU were helpful for patients, but we're finding this approach to care is actually harmful to the long-term recovery of many. We need to focus on changing bed rest to improve patients' recovery.”

“The standard of care for really sick patients has been keeping them sedated and in bed,” said coauthor Eddy Fan, MD, PhD. “Many doctors and nurses believe that when there's a breathing tube in place, patients need deep sedation, not rehab. But that is a myth. We need our patients awake and moving.”

Previous research has shown that during the first three days a severely ill patient spends in the ICU, they can expect a 9% decrease in muscle size, due to deep sedation, the use of breathing tubes, and dependency on life-sustaining machinery.

Related Links:

Johns Hopkins University


Gold Member
STI Test
Vivalytic Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Array
Gold Member
POC Blood Gas Analyzer
Stat Profile Prime Plus
Silver Member
Compact 14-Day Uninterrupted Holter ECG
NR-314P
New
Surgial Headlight
MedLED Chrome

Print article

Channels

Surgical Techniques

view channel
Image: NTT and Olympus have begun the world\'s first joint demonstration experiment of a cloud endoscopy system (Photo courtesy of Olympus)

Cloud Endoscopy System Enables Real-Time Image Processing on the Cloud

Endoscopes, which are flexible tubes inserted into the body's natural openings for internal examination and biopsy collection, are becoming increasingly vital in medical diagnostics. Their minimal invasiveness... Read more

Patient Care

view channel
Image: The newly-launched solution can transform operating room scheduling and boost utilization rates (Photo courtesy of Fujitsu)

Surgical Capacity Optimization Solution Helps Hospitals Boost OR Utilization

An innovative solution has the capability to transform surgical capacity utilization by targeting the root cause of surgical block time inefficiencies. Fujitsu Limited’s (Tokyo, Japan) Surgical Capacity... Read more

Health IT

view channel
Image: First ever institution-specific model provides significant performance advantage over current population-derived models (Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai)

Machine Learning Model Improves Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

Machine learning algorithms have been deployed to create predictive models in various medical fields, with some demonstrating improved outcomes compared to their standard-of-care counterparts.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel
Image: The PATHFAST hs-cTnI-II high-sensitivity troponin assay has been developed for the PATHFAST Biomarker Analyzer (Photo courtesy of Polymedco)

POC Myocardial Infarction Test Delivers Results in 17 Minutes

Chest pain is the second leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits by adults in the United States, generating over 7 million visits annually. In the event of a suspected heart attack, physicians... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.