Abstract
The intensive care unit (ICU) presents a challenging environment for the patient and the treatment team. Life support systems and new treatments found in today's ICU offer critically ill patients improved survival rates and more rapid recovery from serious illness or injury. However, the benefits of intensive care often require prolonged immobilization, repeated exposure to uncomfortable or painful procedures, and continuous instrumentation of sensitive tissue. The discomfort associated with the treatment is added to the pain or discomfort accompanying the original illness or injury that necessitated intensive care. Clearly, pain management represents a nearly universal challenge for patients in the ICU. We now know that the provision of effective pain relief is actually safer than withholding pain control techniques due to the negative impact of the human response to physical injury. Effective analgesia is not only a humanitarian requisite of good care, it also has important physiological consequences that may ultimately decrease complications and the cost of hospitalization, thereby improving patient outcome [1].
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