Approaches to Addressing PICS Among ICU Survivors

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
PICS

Critical illness can be lethal and devastating to survivors. Improvements in acute care have increased the number of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. These survivors confront a range of new or worsened health states that is commonly denominated Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS). These problems include physical, cognitive, psychological, and existential aspects among others. Burgeoning interest in improving long-term outcomes for ICU survivors has driven an array of potential interventions to improve outcomes associated with PICS. To date the most promising interventions appear to relate to very early physical rehabilitation. Late interventions within aftercare and recovery clinics have yielded mixed results, although experience from heart failure programs suggests the possibility that very early case management interventions may help improve intermediate-term outcomes, including mortality and hospital readmission.

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