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
. 2018 Jan 4;22(1):1.
doi: 10.1186/s13054-017-1923-7.

ICU-acquired weakness: should medical sovereignty belong to any specialist?

Domenico Intiso  1
Affiliations

ICU-acquired weakness: should medical sovereignty belong to any specialist?

Domenico Intiso. Crit Care. .

Abstract

ICU-acquired weakness (ICUAW), including critical illness polyneuropathy, critical illness myopathy, and critical illness polyneuropathy and myopathy, is a frequent disabling disorder in ICU subjects. Research has predominantly been performed by intensivists, whose efforts have permitted the diagnosis of ICUAW early during an ICU stay and understanding of several of the pathophysiological and clinical aspects of this disorder. Despite important progress, the therapeutic strategies are unsatisfactory and issues such as functional outcomes and long-term recovery remain unclear. Studies involving multiple specialists should be planned to better differentiate the ICUAW types and provide proper functional outcome measures and follow-up. A more strict collaboration among specialists interested in ICUAW, in particular physiatrists, is desirable to plan proper care pathways after ICU discharge and to better meet the health needs of subjects with ICUAW.

Keywords: Critical illness polyneuropathy; ICU-acquired weakness; Intensivist; Multi-specialist; Recovery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

DI consents for publication according to editorial license and copyright agreement.

Written informed consent obtained from the patient/participant for publication of their individual details and accompanying images in this manuscript was not applicable.

The article is original, has not been formally published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration by any other journal, and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other third-party rights.

DI is the sole author of the article and has full authority to enter into this agreement and in granting rights to BioMed Central, and is not in breach of any other obligation.

The article contains nothing that is unlawful, libelous, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract or of confidence or of commitment given to secrecy.

DI has taken due care to ensure the integrity of the article. To the author’s and currently accepted scientific knowledge, all statements contained in the article purporting to be facts are true and any formula or instruction contained in the article will not, if followed accurately, cause any injury, illness, or damage to the user.

Competing interests

The author declares that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Stevens RD, Marshall SA, Cornblath DR, Hoke A, Needham DM, de Jonghe B, Ali NA, Sharshar T. A framework for diagnosing and classifying intensive care unit-acquired weakness. Crit Care Med. 2009;37(10 Suppl):S299–308. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e3181b6ef67. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bolton CF, Gilbert JJ, Hahn AF, Sibbald WJ. Polyneuropathy in critically ill patients. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1984;47(11):1223–31. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.47.11.1223. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lefaucheur JP, Nordine T, Rodriguez P, Brochard L. Origin of ICU acquired paresis determined by direct muscle stimulation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006;77(4):500–6. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2005.070813. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kerbaul F, Brousse M, Collart F, et al. Combination of histopathological and electromyographic patterns can help to evaluate functional outcome of critical ill patients with neuromuscular weakness syndromes. Crit Care. 2004;8(6):416–8. doi: 10.1186/cc2925. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li N, Liu Z, Wang G, Wang S. Downregulation of the sodium channel Nav1.6 by potential transcriptomic deregulation may explain sensory deficits in critical illness neuropathy. Life Sci. 2015;143:231–6. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2015.11.008. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources