Sedation in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Sedation is an essential part of modern intensive care treatment. Many interventions are uncomfortable, distressing and frequently painful. Simply lying in a fixed position for prolonged periods of time causes backache and discomfort. This coupled with the obvious fear and anxiety that critical illness induces means that there is a need for effective and individualised sedation and analgesia. Despite the ubiquitous role of sedation in intensive care, it is surprising that such a small part of the standard texts are devoted to it. Increasing evidence suggests that poorly controlled pain and anxiety may be associated with a worse outcome from critical illness, and that moderating the stress response to this may be of value to patient outcome.