Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Jun 13;17(3):322.
doi: 10.1186/cc12679.

Intensive care sedation: the past, present and the future

Yahya Shehabi, Rinaldo Bellomo, Sangeeta Mehta, Richard Riker, Jukka Takala
Review

Intensive care sedation: the past, present and the future

Yahya Shehabi et al. Crit Care. .

Abstract

Despite the universal prescription of sedative drugs in the intensive care unit (ICU), current practice is not guided by high-level evidence. Landmark sedation trials have made significant contributions to our understanding of the problems associated with ICU sedation and have promoted changes to current practice. We identified challenges and limitations of clinical trials which reduced the generalizability and the universal adoption of key interventions. We present an international perspective regarding current sedation practice and a blueprint for future research, which seeks to avoid known limitations and generate much-needed high-level evidence to better guide clinicians' management and therapeutic choices of sedative agents.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Patel SB, Kress JP. Sedation and analgesia in the mechanically ventilated patient. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012;185:486–497. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201102-0273CI. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shehabi Y, Bellomo R, Reade MC, Bailey M, Bass F, Howe B, McArthur CJ, Seppelt IM, Webb SA, Weisbrodt L. Early intensive care sedation predicts long-term mortality in ventilated critically ill patients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012;186:724–731. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201203-0522OC. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shehabi Y, Chan L, Kadiman S, Alias A, Ismail WN, Tan MA, Khoo TM, Ali SB, Saman MA, Shaltut A, Tan CC, Yong CY, Bailey M. Sedation Practice in Intensive Care Evaluation (SPICE) Study Group investigators. Sedation depth and long-term mortality in mechanically ventilated critically ill adults: a prospective longitudinal multicentre cohort study. Intensive Care Med. 2013;39:910–918. doi: 10.1007/s00134-013-2830-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mehta S, McCullagh I, Burry L. Current sedation practices: lessons learned from international surveys. Crit Care Clin. 2009;25:471–488. doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2009.04.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reade MC, Eastwood GM, Peck L, Bellomo R, Baldwin I. Routine use of the confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU) by bedside nurses may underdiagnose delirium. Crit Care Resusc. 2011;13:217–224. - PubMed

Substances