title: The intensive care unit syndrome: causes, treatment, and prevention.
abstract: The psychological assessment and management of the critically ill patient is often overlooked as a part of the patient care plan. The intensive care unit (ICU) syndrome is a type of organic brain syndrome manifested by a variety of psychological reactions, including fear, anxiety, depression, hallucinations, and delirium. Causes, treatment modalities, and a multidisciplinary approach to preventing the ICU syndrome are presented. Causative factors that should be assessed in the psychological evaluation of ICU patients include: (1) preadmission history; (2) past ability to adapt to stress; (3) past and current medications; (4) current clinical status; and (5) environmental factors. The treatment of the ICU syndrome includes: (1) the correction or elimination of causative factors; (2) the appropriate choice, dose, and route of administration of anxiolytic and antipsychotic agents; (3) reduction or elimination of sources of environmental stress; and (4) frequent patient and family communication. Finally, the prevention of the ICU syndrome through the involvement of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists is stressed.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D012892:Sleep Deprivation