Quality assessment of sedation in intensive care

In the intensive care unit (ICU), analgesia and sedation are used to improve the comfort and safety of patients undergoing intensive care therapies. However, continuous administration of sedatives prolongs the time on mechanical ventilation and ICU stay. These adverse effects can be reduced by clear definition of the goals of sedation combined with a sedation protocol.

The adherence to the local sedation guideline of a university affiliated ICU was monitored prospectively before and after intervention: reinforcement of the guideline. The primary endpoints of the study were the occurrence of daily interruption or tapering of sedation and achievement of the target Ramsay scale level (days: 2-3, nights: 3-4) according to the guideline.

Comparing sedation before and after the intervention (166 and 170 ICU days), no significant differences were observed in the occurrence of daily interruption or tapering of sedatives, 94/129 (73%) vs. 109/139 (78%) of sedation days, nor in the Ramsay scale level during the day, 4 (3-5) vs. 4 (3-5), or in the night, 5 (4-5) vs. 5 (4-5), respectively. After the intervention, Ramsay scale recordings were made more frequently, 280/398 (70%) vs. 234/380 (62%) of the nurses' shifts (P < 0.01).

Adherence to the local sedation guideline was not high, and no significant change was seen after this simple intervention. Continuous education and discussion on the desirable and undesirable effects of sedation, followed by multidisciplinary re-evaluation of the current guideline, are due in our unit.