Following Up the Patients at Long Term

The post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) is a major health problem which impairs the quality of life of patients surviving an acute illness and that of their families and has a huge impact on the whole society. With decreasing ICU mortality observed in the last decades, the number of surviving patients is anticipated to increase, as is the number of those surviving with long-lasting severe functional, cognitive, and mental health impairments. The list of symptoms and signs affecting patients surviving the critical illness is continuously updated, and it is a safe bet that PICS will soon need to widen its definition to include new conditions. The critical care community should consider it a great priority to prepare the future generations of intensivists not only to save lives but also to take charge of PICS. This chapter describes a model to follow-up patients surviving an acute illness with a comprehensive clinical approach and reviews the most relevant clinical characteristics of PICS, the risk factors for post-ICU impairments and the strategies for their timely detection.