Acute coma in the intensive care unit

Abstract

In the last couple of decades, the intensive care unit (ICU) environment is experiencing a revolutionary metamorphosis in terms of integration of electrophysiological tools for diagnosis and therapeutic management. Patients with brain dysfunction in the ICU are frequently admitted and managed, either following primary (e.g., hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy following cardiac arrest, hemorrhage, traumatic injury, status epilepticus) or secondary (e.g., sepsis, prolonged sedation, multiorgan failure) insults to the central nervous system. This implies not only enhanced awareness regarding the specificities of these challenging conditions, including highly trained technicians, specialized nurses, and medical staff, but also implementation of user-friendly, convenient, and reliable technical setups.