Intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired weakness (ICUAW) develops as a complication of critical illness and may represent the extreme end of a spectrum of weakness that begins with any serious illness regardless of care location. ICUAW is associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation and ICU stay, as well as increased ICU, hospital, and 1-year mortality. Age, sepsis, longer ICU length of stay, longer duration of mechanical ventilation, and bed rest increase the risk of developing ICUAW.

In a round table meeting held in Brussels in March 2016, the factors that impact on recovery after critical illness were examined in detail with a major recommendation to "look outside the ICU and embrace the continuum of illness including pre-ICU trajectory, recovery, and adaptation". The aim of this review is to present the areas of uncertainty concerning ICUAW to inform future research.

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