[Altered mental status in intensive care unit patients]. / Promjene mentalnog stanja bolesnika u jedinici intenzivnog lijecenja.

ABSTRACT

Altered mental status is one of the most common disorders encountered by doctors in intensive care units and one of the most recognizable signs of serious illness. It can be caused by an organic, functional (psychiatric), or mixed disorder. There are two components of altered mental status, i.e. the level of consciousness and the contents of consciousness. The level of consciousness can be easily assessed by simple observation of the patient during routine history and physical examination, while the contents of consciousness can be measured by multiple assessment tools usable by non-psychiatrists. Because it is a complex condition with multiple symptoms, the main task of intensive care unit physicians is to identify patients at risk and to introduce appropriate treatments immediately. Early recognition and timely treatment can result in recovery, while late treatment may be associated with irreversible disorder. In this article, we give a brief overview of the issues related to altered mental status of intensive care unit patients.