Diaphragm Involvement

Abstract

Reduced mortality and the increasing prevalence of critical illness have resulted in a large and increasing numbers of survivors. However, survivors of critical illness can undergo profound changes in their lives as a result of their intensive care unit (ICU) stay. These changes, regrouped under the term postintensive care syndrome (PICS), are the consequences of physical [1], cognitive [2], and psychological [3] sequelae of the acute illness and the pre-ICU comorbidities. Among these changes, pulmonary function has been studied, mostly following acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [4, 5] as well as other organs and functions, but the literature about the impact of critical illness on specifically the respiratory muscles and the diaphragm is lacking.