Early mobilisation during critical illness: good for the body and brain

Improvements in the acute management of critically ill patients have contributed to increased survival in the intensive care unit (ICU), yet up to two-thirds of survivors after mechanical ventilation struggle with post-intensive care syndrome, which consists of new or worsened cognitive impairment, physical disability, or mental health disorders. Of these, cognitive impairment affects a third of survivors and persists a year or more after critical illness; 1 Marra A Pandharipande PP Girard TD et al. Co-occurrence of post-intensive care syndrome problems among 406 survivors of critical illness. Crit Care Med. 2018; 46: 1393-1401 Crossref PubMed Scopus (222) Google Scholar however, little is known about the pathogenesis of post-intensive care syndrome, and evidence-based treatments are scarce. Effect of early mobilisation on long-term cognitive impairment in critical illness in the USA: a randomised controlled trialEarly mobilisation might be the first known intervention to improve long-term cognitive impairment in ICU survivors after mechanical ventilation. These findings clearly emphasise the importance of avoiding delays in initiating mobilisation. However, the increased adverse events in the intervention group warrants further investigation to replicate these findings. Full-Text PDF