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. 2019 Jun;47(3):220-227.
doi: 10.5152/TJAR.2019.49799. Epub 2019 Feb 24.

Sedation Practices and Preferences of Turkish Intensive Care Physicians: A National Survey

Seval Ürkmez  1 , Elif Erdoğan  1 , Tuğhan Utku  1 , Yalım Dikmen  1
Affiliations

Sedation Practices and Preferences of Turkish Intensive Care Physicians: A National Survey

Seval Ürkmez et al. Turk J Anaesthesiol Reanim. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Sedation is one of the most common practices applied in the intensive care units (ICUs), and the management of sedation, analgesia and delirium is a quality measure in the ICUs. Several guidelines on sedation had been published, and many surveys investigated the practices of sedation in the ICUs, but knowledge on the sedation practices in Turkey is lacking. The aim of the present study was to provide baseline knowledge on the sedation practices and preferences of Turkish intensive care physicians and to establish some points to be improved.

Methods: An electronic survey form consisting of 34 questions was generated and posted to email addresses. The survey included questions about demographics and practices on sedation, analgesia, neuromuscular blockage and delirium.

Results: Of 1700 email addresses, 429 (25.0%) were returned. Sedation was practised by 98.0% of the respondents, and mechanical ventilation was indicated as the primary indication (94.0%) for sedation. The presence of a written sedation protocol was 37.0%. For drug choices for sedation, midazolam was the most preferred agent (90.0%). With regard to pain questions, the most commonly used evaluation tool was Visual Analogue Scale (69.0%), and the most preferred drug was tramadol. Nearly half of the participants routinely evaluated delirium and used the confusion assessment method in the ICU.

Conclusion: The results of this survey have indicated some areas to be improved, and a national guideline should be prepared taking pain, agitation and delirium in focus. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03488069.

Keywords: Intensive care unit; practice; sedation; survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study
Figure 2
Figure 2
Drug choices for sedation (more than one drug could be chosen)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Analgesic drug choices (more than one drug could be chosen) NSAIDs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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