Mortality, morbidity, and quality-of-life outcomes of patients requiring ≥ 14 days of mechanical ventilation: a 12-month post-intensive-care-unit cohort study - Critical Care Science (CCS)

Mortality, morbidity, and quality-of-life outcomes of patients requiring ≥ 14 days of mechanical ventilation: a 12-month post-intensive-care-unit cohort study |

Dear Editor,

Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors suffer significant morbidity,^(,) and longer mechanical ventilation (MV)-dependency increases the probability that these subjects will suffer a "persistent inflammation-immunosuppression and catabolism syndrome".^(-) These patients have ongoing inflammation, manageable organ failure, ongoing protein catabolism, and poor nutrition, leading to cachexia; poor wound healing and immunosuppression with increased susceptibility to secondary infections; and poor long-term survival.^(,) These patients are classified as chronic critical illness (CCI) and present a protracted and complex ICU course that lasts for more than 7 days, they suffer from recurrent infections, organ dysfunction, malnutrition, weakness, cognitive decline, and prolonged institutionalization, and many fail to ever achieve functional independence and have poor long-term survival outcomes.^(-)

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