Guidelines for inhaled sedation in the ICU

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Sedation is used in intensive care units (ICU) to improve comfort and tolerance during mechanical ventilation, invasive interventions, and nursing care. In recent years, the use of inhalation anaesthetics for this purpose has increased. Our objective was to obtain and summarise the best evidence on inhaled sedation in adult patients in the ICU, and use this to help physicians choose the most appropriate approach in terms of the impact of sedation on clinical outcomes and the risk-benefit of the chosen strategy.

METHODOLOGY

Given the overall lack of literature and scientific evidence on various aspects of inhaled sedation in the ICU, we decided to use a Delphi method to achieve consensus among a group of 17 expert panellists. The processes was conducted over a 12-month period between 2022 and 2023, and followed the recommendations of the CREDES guidelines.

RESULTS

The results of the Delphi survey form the basis of these 39 recommendations - 23 with a strong consensus and 15 with a weak consensus.

CONCLUSION

The use of inhaled sedation in the ICU is a reliable and appropriate option in a wide variety of clinical scenarios. However, there are numerous aspects of the technique that require further study.

Use and dependence on opioid drugs in the Spanish population with chronic pain: Prevalence and differences according to sex

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the prevalence in the use and dependence on opioid drugs in the Spanish population with chronic pain and evaluate the differences according to sex.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The demographic variables, opioid treatment characteristics and use of other substances were assessed in 229 users of opioid drugs. A descriptive bivariate analysis of the data was performed.

RESULTS

Forty-six percent of the patients met the criteria of dependence on opioid drugs (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition [DSM-IV-TR]). Alcohol and cannabis consumption was greater in the men. The rates of dependence on the use of opioid drugs were significantly higher in the extended treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

Planning for treatments with opioids and strategies for preventing inappropriate use should not depend on the patient's sex. We need further studies on the medical and psychological variables related to the use of and dependence on opioids.

[Diagnostic usefulness of the determination of serum neuron-specific enolase in small cell bronchial carcinoma]

The plasma level of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was measured in 55 patients with small cell bronchial carcinoma (SCC) with cytohistological confirmation to evaluate its diagnostic usefulness. As a control group, 132 patients with non-small cell bronchial carcinoma, 81 with non-neoplastic disease and 37 healthy individuals were used. The sensitivity of the test was 84% with a specificity of 79% when values below 13 ng/mg were considered as normal. To achieve a specificity of 95% and 99% cutoff values had to be increased to 25 and 50 ng/ml, respectively, and then the sensitivity was reduced to 51% and 38%. There were false positive findings in the three control groups, although they were more common (28%) and had higher values in patients with widespread disease the sensitivity was significantly higher (p less than 0.005) than in those with limited disease. Carcinoembryonic antigen, which was measured with comparative purposes, had a lower sensitivity. In our area, a NSE level over 50 ng/ml is closely correlated with the diagnosis of SCC, whereas values over 13 ng/ml select a wider group of individuals where most patients with this type of carcinoma are included.