The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) syndrome:
A literature review - Retrospective study
of the syndrome in the ICU of the General Hospital "Sotiria"
D. MASTROGIANNAKOU, P.G. SARRIGIANNIS, A. KARKANIAS, K. PERISSAKI

The ICU syndrome was defined as an acute organic brain syndrome involving impaired intellectual functioning occurring in patients who are being treated within a critical care unit. The syndrome can also be defined as an altered emotional state occurring in a highly stressful environment. This multiplicity of definitions may reflect the difficulty in agreement concerning the symptoms and phenomena included in the ICU syndrome. Thus there is no consensus about the definition of the syndrome or the symptoms which should be included.

There are three main factors of importance in the development of the syndrome; the organic disease (metabolic defect, development, duration), the patient (personality, age, emotional condition) and the environment (isolation, impersonal environment, sensory overload, sleep deprivation).

We have reviewed retrospectively the medical records of 130 patients who had been treated in the ICU of the hospital "Sotiria". The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of the ICU syndrome and to present its spectrum of clinical manifestations, its pharmacologic treatment and its relation to .age, duration of stay in ICU and administration of analgesic and sedative medications.

Of 63 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 25 patients (40%) had manifested psychiatric symptoms and received psychiatric pharmacologic treatment. Comparing the patients with and without psychiatric symptoms, it appears that the administration of analgesic and sedative medication is of great importance in the development of the syndrome.

In conclusion, the psychological care of the critically ill needs reinforcement. The early diagnosis and treatment of the syndrome reduce the duration of stay in the unit and thus, the risk of implications, such as infections.

Key words: Intensive Care Unit syndrome, delirium, psychological responses, treatment, prevention.