TY - JOUR
T1 - Sedation and analgesia in intensive care
T2 - Medications attenuate stress response in critical illness
AU - Blanchard, Amy R.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - The stress response to critical illness can have many deleterious effects. Appropriate use of sedation and analgesia can attenuate the stress response, alleviate pain and anxiety, and improve compliance with care. Agitation responds best to anxiolytic drugs; pain is best relieved by analgesics. A combination of these drugs can act synergistically, because most analgesics provide some degree of sedation. In select cases, neuromuscular blocking agents are required, but they should not be used without concomitant sedation and analgesia. Use of agents needs to be tailored to the needs of individual patients; indications, anticipated length of need, and underlying organ system derangements are important considerations.
AB - The stress response to critical illness can have many deleterious effects. Appropriate use of sedation and analgesia can attenuate the stress response, alleviate pain and anxiety, and improve compliance with care. Agitation responds best to anxiolytic drugs; pain is best relieved by analgesics. A combination of these drugs can act synergistically, because most analgesics provide some degree of sedation. In select cases, neuromuscular blocking agents are required, but they should not be used without concomitant sedation and analgesia. Use of agents needs to be tailored to the needs of individual patients; indications, anticipated length of need, and underlying organ system derangements are important considerations.
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U2 - 10.3810/pgm.2002.02.1107
DO - 10.3810/pgm.2002.02.1107
M3 - Article
C2 - 11868314
AN - SCOPUS:0036180873
SN - 0032-5481
VL - 111
SP - 59
EP - 74
JO - Postgraduate medicine
JF - Postgraduate medicine
IS - 2
ER -