A national survey on routines regarding sedation in Swedish intensive care units

  • Oskar Talsi Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
  • Ritva Kiiski Berggren Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Swedish National Quality Registry for Intensive Care (SIR), Karlstad, Sweden
  • Göran Johansson Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
  • Ola Winsö Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Keywords: Analgesics, intensive care, mechanical ventilation, sedation scale, sedatives

Abstract

Background: Previous studies concerning sedation in Swedish intensive care units (ICU) have shown variability in drug choices and strategies. Currently, there are no national guidelines on this topic. As an update to a Nordic survey from 2004, and as a follow-up to a recently introduced quality indicator from the Swedish Intensive Care Registry, we performed a national survey.

Methods: A digital survey was sent to the ICUs in Sweden, asking for sedation routines regarding hypnosedatives, analgosedatives, protocols, sedation scales, etc.

Results: Fifty out of 80 ICUs responded to the survey. All units used sedation scales, and 88% used the RASS scale; 80% used written guidelines for sedation. Propofol and dexmedetomidine were the preferred short-term hypnosedatives. Propofol, dexmedetomidine, and midazolam were preferred for long-term hypnosedation. Remifentanil, morphine, and fentanyl were the most frequently used agents for analgosedation.

Conclusions: All ICUs used a sedation scale, an increase compared with previous studies. Concerning the choice of hypno- and analgosedatives, the use of dexmedetomidine, clonidine, and remifentanil has increased, and the use of benzodiazepines has decreased since the Nordic survey in 2004.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Published
2019-05-23
How to Cite
Talsi O., Kiiski Berggren R., Johansson G., & Winsö O. (2019). A national survey on routines regarding sedation in Swedish intensive care units. Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 124(3), 199–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/03009734.2019.1616339
Section
Original Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)