Abstract
Curiously, there are wide differences in the admission rates to intensive care units (ICU) due to neurological illness. For example the Intensive Care Society's study of 26 units in the UK and Ireland reported an admission rate for neurological illness of between 2.9 and 23.1% (mean 9.4%) for all ICU admissions. Another study, of a single ICU in Chicago, reported that only 4.9% of 1850 admissions were due to neurological illness. This lower incidence probably reflects the exclusion of patients with drug overdose from the diagnostic category. Importantly, these authors went on to demonstrate that among the remaining patients (95.1%), 12.3% developed one or more neurological complications while in the ICU. Moreover the development of neurological complications worsened the patient's prognosis in terms of mortality and duration of ICU stay. This background of neurological morbidity in the ICU emphasises the importance of the neurological examination of critically ill patients; without such an examination, diagnoses will be missed, treatment inadequate and estimates of prognosis inaccurate.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | British Journal of Intensive Care |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - 1994 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Fingerprint
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine
Cite this
Examination of the central nervous system in the critically ill patient : Important clinical signs and diagnoses. / Smith, Stephen.
In: British Journal of Intensive Care, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1994.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Examination of the central nervous system in the critically ill patient
T2 - Important clinical signs and diagnoses
AU - Smith, Stephen
PY - 1994
Y1 - 1994
N2 - Curiously, there are wide differences in the admission rates to intensive care units (ICU) due to neurological illness. For example the Intensive Care Society's study of 26 units in the UK and Ireland reported an admission rate for neurological illness of between 2.9 and 23.1% (mean 9.4%) for all ICU admissions. Another study, of a single ICU in Chicago, reported that only 4.9% of 1850 admissions were due to neurological illness. This lower incidence probably reflects the exclusion of patients with drug overdose from the diagnostic category. Importantly, these authors went on to demonstrate that among the remaining patients (95.1%), 12.3% developed one or more neurological complications while in the ICU. Moreover the development of neurological complications worsened the patient's prognosis in terms of mortality and duration of ICU stay. This background of neurological morbidity in the ICU emphasises the importance of the neurological examination of critically ill patients; without such an examination, diagnoses will be missed, treatment inadequate and estimates of prognosis inaccurate.
AB - Curiously, there are wide differences in the admission rates to intensive care units (ICU) due to neurological illness. For example the Intensive Care Society's study of 26 units in the UK and Ireland reported an admission rate for neurological illness of between 2.9 and 23.1% (mean 9.4%) for all ICU admissions. Another study, of a single ICU in Chicago, reported that only 4.9% of 1850 admissions were due to neurological illness. This lower incidence probably reflects the exclusion of patients with drug overdose from the diagnostic category. Importantly, these authors went on to demonstrate that among the remaining patients (95.1%), 12.3% developed one or more neurological complications while in the ICU. Moreover the development of neurological complications worsened the patient's prognosis in terms of mortality and duration of ICU stay. This background of neurological morbidity in the ICU emphasises the importance of the neurological examination of critically ill patients; without such an examination, diagnoses will be missed, treatment inadequate and estimates of prognosis inaccurate.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028328509&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028328509&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0028328509
VL - 4
JO - British Journal of Intensive Care
JF - British Journal of Intensive Care
SN - 0961-7930
IS - 4
ER -