title: Tolerance and Withdrawal Issues with Sedatives in the Intensive Care Unit.
abstract: Prolonged use of sedative medications continues to be a concern for critical care practitioners, with potential adverse effects including tolerance and withdrawal. The amount of sedatives required in critically ill patients can be lessened and tolerance delayed with the use of pain and/or sedation scales to reach the desired effect. The current recommendation for prolonged sedation is to wean patients from the medications over several days to reduce the risk of drug withdrawal. It is important to identify patients at risk for iatrogenic withdrawal and create a treatment strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Jackson Memorial Hospital, 1611 Northwest 12th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136, USA. Electronic address: gina.riggi@jhsmiami.org.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riggi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Delray Medical Center, 5352 Linton Boulevard, Delray Beach, FL 33484, USA.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zapantis
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Memorial Regional Hospital, 3501 Johnson Street, Hollywood, FL 33021, USA.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D064648:Critical Care Nursing; D016638:Critical Illness; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000009:adverse effects; D004361:Drug Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives
keywords: Iatrogenic withdrawal; Intensive care unit; Sedation; Tolerance