Sedation in critically ill patients: will the vaporiser replace the syringe?

Abstract

Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) often need sedation to treat anxiety, pain, and confusion, and for diagnostic procedures and interventions. One such intervention is invasive ventilation. Protocolised sedation with daily sedative interruption could prevent oversedation, delayed emergence, and belated extubation, but comes with challenges because of the altered pharmacology and frequent drug interactions in invasively ventilated patients in the ICU.