Aftercare of ICU patients: A task for pneumology?

Abstract

As the number of patients treated in intensive care medicine increases, so does the number of those who suffer from the long-term consequences of critical illness and the consequences of a stay in an intensive care unit. For this group of patients with a post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), there are currently no specialized outpatient care structures that follow the hospital stay and possible follow-up treatment. A number of studies are researching the effectiveness of intensive care outpatient clinics nationally and internationally.After presenting the PICS and the associated complex need for care, this review article presents various model projects for outpatient follow-up care of critically ill patients. We discuss whether the field of pneumology is particularly suitable for the study of therapy control of complex clinical pictures since it has vast experience in the treatment of intensive care patients and the outpatient care of chronically ill patients.