Management and long-term outcome of patients with chronic neuromuscular disease admitted to the intensive care unit for acute respiratory failure: a single-center retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic neuromuscular disease represent less than 10% of those receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU). Little has been reported regarding either ICU management of acute respiratory failure (ARF) in the era of noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) or long-term outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To describe the respiratory management of patients with chronic neuromuscular diseases admitted to our university hospital ICU for ARF, and the long-term outcomes. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed patients with chronic neuromuscular diseases admitted to our ICU for a first episode of ARF between January 1, 1996, and February 27, 2007. We assessed severity of illness on ICU admission, respiratory management during ICU stay, and outcomes on June 15, 2008. RESULTS: During the study period, 87 patients (44 with hereditary and 43 with acquired neuromuscular diseases) had their first ARF episode that required ICU admission. In the hereditary-diseases group and the acquired-diseases group, respectively, the rates of NIV use during the ICU stay were 82% and 63% (P = .040), the intubation rates were 30% and 56% (P = .02), and the tracheotomy rates were 9% and 12% (difference not significant). At the final assessment (median 3 years) the mortality rate was 58%, and mortality was not significantly related to the type of neuromuscular disease. At final assessment, 46% of the patients were on NIV and 29% had tracheotomy. CONCLUSIONS: In our ICU, chronic neuromuscular disease is an uncommon cause of ARF, for which we often use NIV. These patients had a low probability of death in the ICU. Long-term outcome was independent of the type of neuromuscular disease.

The feasibility of early physical activity in intensive care unit patients: a prospective observational one-center study.

BACKGROUND: Prolonged immobilization may harm intensive care unit (ICU) patients, and early mobilization has been proposed to counteract that process. We describe our experience in early rehabilitation of ICU patients, and its effects on physiologic outcomes. METHODS: We included all patients who stayed in our 14-bed medical ICU for > or = 7 days and received invasive mechanical ventilation for > or = 2 days. The rehabilitation program included chair-sitting, tilting-up (with arms supported or unsupported), and walking. We collected vital signs before and after each intervention. RESULTS: Over a 5-month period we studied 20 patients, after a median ICU stay of 5 days. A contraindication to the intervention was present on 230 days (43%). Sedation (15%), shock (11%), and renal support (9%) were the most frequent contraindications. We obtained complete data from 275 of 424 interventions, 33% of which were performed during mechanical ventilation. The chair-sitting intervention was the most frequent (56%), followed by the tilting-up-with-arms-unsupported intervention (25%), the walking intervention (11%), and the tilting-up arms-supported intervention (8%). The chair-sitting intervention was associated with a significant (P = .03) decline in both heart rate (mean -3.5 beats/min, 95% confidence interval [CI] -6.5 to -0.4 beats/min) and respiratory rate (-1.4 breaths/min, 95% CI -2.6 to 0.1 breaths/min), whereas blood oxygen saturation (measured via pulse oximetry [S(pO(2))]) and mean arterial blood pressure did not change significantly. Heart rate and respiratory rate similarly increased with tilting-up: 14.6 beats/min, 95% CI 10.8 to 18.4 beats/min, and 5.5 breaths/min, 95% CI 3.6 to 7.3 breaths/min with arms unsupported, and 12.4 beats/min, 95% CI 7.0 to 17.9 beats/min and 2.6 breaths/min, 95% CI -0.4 to 5.7 breaths/min with arms supported). Heart rate and respiratory rate also increased with the walking intervention: 6.9 beats/min, 95% CI 2.6 to 11.1 beats/min, and 5.9 breaths/min, 95% CI 3.8 to 8.0 breaths/min. The walking intervention significantly decreased S(pO(2)). An adverse event occurred in 13 (3%) of 424 interventions, but none had harmful consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Early rehabilitation is feasible and safe in patients in the ICU for longer than 1 week. The chair-sitting intervention was associated with nonsignificant oxygenation improvement. The tilting-up intervention was an effort as intense as walking.