Should ICU clinicians follow patients after ICU discharge? No

Should ICU clinicians follow patients after ICU discharge? No

Post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) describes new or worsening impairments of physical, cognitive or mental health resulting from an episode of critical illness and its treatment and lasting after discharge... read more

Breaking it Down: Post Intensive Care Syndrome and Recovery – Emotions

Breaking it Down: Post Intensive Care Syndrome and Recovery – Emotions

The emotional aftermath of critical illness/injury is something that often catches people by surprise but can have a significant impact on daily life. People who have been critically ill/injured often describe difficulty... read more

Co-Occurrence of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Problems Among 406 Survivors of Critical Illness

Co-Occurrence of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome Problems Among 406 Survivors of Critical Illness

In this multicenter cohort study, one or more post-intensive care syndrome problems were present in the majority of survivors, but co-occurring problems were present in only one out of four. Education was protective from... read more

I Had PTSD After a Critical Illness. Apparently That’s Fairly Common

I Had PTSD After a Critical Illness. Apparently That’s Fairly Common

The emotional trauma of a near-death experience causes ongoing emotional and physical symptoms in one-third of ICU patients. PICS doesn't have a time limitation and can be triggered by almost anything. I was suddenly anxious... read more

The burdens of survivorship: an approach to thinking about long-term outcomes after critical illness

The burdens of survivorship: an approach to thinking about long-term outcomes after critical illness

Internationally accepted approaches to the study of functioning and disability can inform critical care practitioners and scholars in their study of functional limitations, disability, and quality of life after critical illness... read more

Words that Heal: ICU Journals at Penn Help Patients and Staff

After years of planning, Penn Presbyterian began offering the journals in January to help prevent post-intensive care syndrome or PICS, a set of physical and emotional problems gaining attention as more people survive an... read more

Critical Care Pharmacists and Medication Management in an ICU Recovery Center

Critical Care Pharmacists and Medication Management in an ICU Recovery Center

Many patients experience complications following critical illness; these are now widely referred to as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). An interprofessional intensive care unit (ICU) recovery center (ICU-RC), also known... read more

Conceptualizing Post Intensive Care Syndrome in Children

Conceptualizing Post Intensive Care Syndrome in Children

Post Intensive Care Syndrome in pediatrics (PICS-p) will help illuminate the phenomena of surviving childhood critical illness and guide outcomes measurement in the field. Empirical studies are now required to validate and... read more

What Is PICS and How Does it Affect Patients and Families

What Is PICS and How Does it Affect Patients and Families

Every year, about 6 million people are admitted to intensive care units with a life-threatening illness. As medical technology advances, more people survive conditions that once would have been fatal. However, about half... read more

Business of Critical Care and Value/Performance Building

Business of Critical Care and Value/Performance Building

New, value-based regulations and reimbursement structures are creating historic care management challenges, thinning the margins and threatening the viability of hospitals and health systems. The Society of Critical Care... read more

Survivor’s Story Highlights Need for new ICU Support Group

Survivor’s Story Highlights Need for new ICU Support Group

A major heart attack at age 40 sent him to the ICU. Jason Levi aims to help others with life after the ICU. The medical term is post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). The nurses are Jenelle Baer and Janet Nelson. They're both... read more

Intensive Care Syndrome: Promoting Independence and Return to Employment (InS:PIRE)

Intensive Care Syndrome: Promoting Independence and Return to Employment (InS:PIRE)

Many patients suffer significant physical, social and psychological problems in the months and years following critical care discharge. At present, there is minimal evidence of any effective interventions to support this... read more

Critical Illness, Disability, and the Road Home

Critical Illness, Disability, and the Road Home

Ability to participate in the community is an important outcome for all patients after a major illness, it signposts reaching the end of the road home. A patient's ability to return to the priority tasks of daily living impacts... read more

Perspectives of Survivors, Families and Researchers on Key Outcomes for Research in ARF

Perspectives of Survivors, Families and Researchers on Key Outcomes for Research in ARF

There is heterogeneity among the outcomes evaluated in studies of survivors of acute respiratory failure (ARF). Patient, family and researcher groups supported inclusion of outcome domains that fit within the PICS framework.... read more

Muscle Mass and Physical Recovery in ICU: Innovations for targeting of Nutrition and Exercise

Muscle Mass and Physical Recovery in ICU: Innovations for targeting of Nutrition and Exercise

New innovative techniques are demonstrating promise to target recovery from PICS utilizing a combination of objective LBM and metabolic assessment, targeted nutrition interventions, personalized exercise interventions for... read more

Assessment of Post-ICU Functional Outcome

Assessment of Post-ICU Functional Outcome

Poor functional status is common after critical illness, and can adversely impact intensive care unit (ICU) survivors’ abilities to live independently. Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), which encompass complex... read more