[The life of ICU-survivors]

Many ICU survivors experience physical, cognitive and mental complications of critical care. This phenomenon has recently been defined as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS). We present 2 patients who survived treatment in an ICU. One of these patients, a 71-year-old male, had pneumosepsis and multiple organ failure. He was treated for 10 days in the ICU. He made a full recovery after 3 months of rehabilitation. The second patient, a 61-year-old male, developed multiple organ failure as complication of acute necrotizing pancreatitis. He was treated for 55 days in the ICU. He ultimately survived, but later developed a post-intensive care syndrome that had a long-lasting impact on his quality of life. Early rehabilitation and the limited use of sedatives might mitigate the severity of this syndrome.