title: Intestinal constipation in intensive care units.
abstract: Constipation is a common complication identified among critically ill patients. Its incidence is highly variable due to lack of definition of such patients. Besides the already known consequences of constipation, in recent years it was observed that this complication may also be related to worse prognosis of critically ill patients. This review endeavors to describe the main available scientific evidence showing that constipation is a prognostic marker and a clinical representation of intestinal dysfunction, in addition to eventually interfering in the prognosis with treatment. Ogilvie syndrome, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units was also reviewed. Considering the above cases it was concluded that more attention to this disorder is required in intensive care units as well as development of protocols for diagnosis and management of critically ill patients.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Palácio de
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Flavio Geraldo Rezende
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Elaine Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Flávia Ribeiro
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Machado