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Objective To know the real clinical practice of Spanish ICUs in relation to analgesia, sedation and delirium, with a view to assessing adherence to current recommendations. Design A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out based on a national survey on analgesia, sedation and delirium practices in patients admitted to intensive care on 16 November, 2013 and 16 October, 2014. An on-line questionnaire was sent with the endorsement of the SEMICYUC. Setting Spanish ICUs in public and private hospitals. Results A total of 166 ICUs participated, with the inclusion of 1567 patients. The results showed that 61.4% of the ICUs had a sedation protocol, and 75% regularly monitored sedation and agitation – the RASS being the most frequently used scale. Pain was monitored in about half of the ICUs, but the behavioral scales were very little used. Delirium monitoring was implemented in few ICUs. Among the patients on mechanical ventilation, midazolam remained a very commonly used agent. Conclusions This survey is the first conducted in Spain on the practices of analgesia, sedation and delirium. We identified specific targets for quality improvement, particularly concerning the management of sedation and the assessment of delirium.

Resumen Objetivo Conocer la practica clinica real de las UCI espanolas en relacion con la analgosedacion y delirium, y valorar como se ajusta a las recomendaciones actuales. Diseno Estudio transversal descriptivo elaborado mediante encuesta nacional sobre practicas de analgosedacion y delirium de los pacientes ingresados en UCI los dias 16 de noviembre de 2013 y 16 de octubre de 2014. Se envio un cuestionario a traves de Internet con el aval de la SEMICYUC. Ambito UCI tanto publicas como privadas de todo el territorio nacional. Resultados Se incluyeron un total de 166 UCI y a 1.567 pacientes. El 61,4% de las UCI contaban con un protocolo de sedacion. El 75% de las UCI monitorizaban la sedacion y agitacion, con RASS como la escala empleada con mayor frecuencia. El dolor se monitorizaba en algo mas de la mitad de las UCI, pero las escalas conductuales eran de muy baja implantacion. El delirium tambien presentaba un bajo nivel diagnostico. Entre los pacientes en ventilacion mecanica el midazolam continuaba siendo un sedante de muy amplio uso. Conclusiones Esta encuesta es la primera realizada en Espana sobre analgosedacion y delirium y nos muestra una fotografia sobre estas practicas, senala algunos aspectos como los relacionados con la monitorizacion y usos de escalas, junto con el manejo del delirium, en los que los resultados del estudio animan a desarrollar proyectos docentes que acerquen la practica clinica real a las recomendaciones nacionales e internacionales.

Despite major advances in our understanding of the physiopathology of brain death (BD), there are important controversies as to which protocol is the most appropriate for organ donor management. Many recent reviews on this subject offer recommendations that are sometimes contradictory and in some cases are not applied to other critically ill patients. This article offers a review of the publications (many of them recent) with an impact upon these controversial measures and which can help to confirm, refute or open new areas of research into the most appropriate measures for the management of organ donors in BD, and which should contribute to discard certain established recommendations based on preconceived ideas, that lead to actions lacking a physiopathological basis. Aspects such as catecholamine storm management, use of vasoactive drugs, hemodynamic objectives and monitoring, assessment of the heart for donation, and general care of the donor in BD are reviewed.

To know the real clinical practice of Spanish ICUs in relation to analgesia, sedation and delirium, with a view to assessing adherence to current recommendations.A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out based on a national survey on analgesia, sedation and delirium practices in patients admitted to intensive care on 16 November, 2013 and 16 October, 2014. An on-line questionnaire was sent with the endorsement of the SEMICYUC.Spanish ICUs in public and private hospitals.A total of 166 ICUs participated, with the inclusion of 1567 patients. The results showed that 61.4% of the ICUs had a sedation protocol, and 75% regularly monitored sedation and agitation - the RASS being the most frequently used scale. Pain was monitored in about half of the ICUs, but the behavioral scales were very little used. Delirium monitoring was implemented in few ICUs. Among the patients on mechanical ventilation, midazolam remained a very commonly used agent.This survey is the first conducted in Spain on the practices of analgesia, sedation and delirium. We identified specific targets for quality improvement, particularly concerning the management of sedation and the assessment of delirium.

Recently, dexmedetomidine has been marketed in Spain and other European countries. The published experience regarding its use has placed dexmedetomidine on current trends in sedo-analgesic strategies in the adult critically ill patient. Dexmedetomidine has sedative and analgesic properties, without respiratory depressant effects, inducing a degree of depth of sedation in which the patient can open its eyes to verbal stimulation, obey simple commands and cooperate in nursing care. It is therefore a very useful drug in patients who can be maintained on mechanical ventilation with these levels of sedation avoiding the deleterious effects of over or infrasedation. Because of its effects on α2-receptors, it's very useful for the control and prevention of tolerance and withdrawal to other sedatives and psychotropic drugs. The use of dexmedetomidine has been associated with lower incidence of delirium when compared with other sedatives. Moreover, it's a potentially useful drug for sedation of patients in non-invasive ventilation.

Recently, dexmedetomidine has been marketed in Spain and other European countries. The published experience regarding its use has placed dexmedetomidine on current trends in sedoanalgesic strategies in the adult critically ill patient. Dexmedetomidine has sedative and analgesic properties, without respiratory depressant effects, inducing a degree of depth of sedation in which patients can open their eyes to verbal stimulation, obey simple commands and cooperate in nursing care. It is therefore a very useful drug in patients who can be maintained on mechanical ventilation with these levels of sedation avoiding the deleterious effects of over- or infrasedation. Because of its effects on α2-receptors, it is very useful for the control and prevention of tolerance and withdrawal to other sedatives and psychotropic drugs. The use of dexmedetomidine has been associated with lower incidence of delirium when compared with other sedatives. Moreover, it is a potentially useful drug for sedation of patients on non-invasive ventilation.

Adequate monitoring of analgesia and sedation should be one of the main goals in the Intensive Care Units. Once the analgesia is assured, the correct dosage of the sedatives will depend on the correct monitoring of the sedation level. For years, clinical scales have been used to evaluate the sedation level. These scales are appropriate for the evaluation of mild sedation but they cannot correctly evaluate deeply sedated patients or those patients who require continuous intravenous administration of neuromuscular blockade agents. In this chapter, we review the most used monitor to control the adequate level of sedation in the Intensive Care Units as well as the BIS(R) Monitor, which is the one recommended by the Analgesia and Sedation Work Group of the Spanish Society of Critical Care Medicine (SEMICYUC).

Recently, dexmedetomidine has been marketed in Spain and other European countries. The published experience regarding its use has placed dexmedetomidine on current trends in sedo-analgesic strategies in the adult critically ill patient. Dexmedetomidine has sedative and analgesic properties, without respiratory depressant effects, inducing a degree of depth of sedation in which the patient can open its eyes to verbal stimulation, obey simple commands and cooperate in nursing care. It is therefore a very useful drug in patients who can be maintained on mechanical ventilation with these levels of sedation avoiding the deleterious effects of over or infrasedation. Because of its effects on α2-receptors, it's very useful for the control and prevention of tolerance and withdrawal to other sedatives and psychotropic drugs. The use of dexmedetomidine has been associated with lower incidence of delirium when compared with other sedatives. Moreover, it's a potentially useful drug for sedation of patients in non-invasive ventilation.

Adequate monitoring of analgesia and sedation should be one of the main goals in the Intensive Care Units. Once the analgesia is assured, the correct dosage of the sedatives will depend on the correct monitoring of the sedation level. For years, clinical scales have been used to evaluate the sedation level. These scales are appropriate for the evaluation of mild sedation but they cannot correctly evaluate deeply sedated patients or those patients who require continuous intravenous administration of neuromuscular blockade agents. In this chapter, we review the most used monitor to control the adequate level of sedation in the Intensive Care Units as well as the BIS(R) Monitor, which is the one recommended by the Analgesia and Sedation Work Group of the Spanish Society of Critical Care Medicine (SEMICYUC).