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Chronic Critical Illness

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Handbook of Evidence-Based Critical Care

Abstract

Intensive care unit physicians frequently provide care to patients who survive initial life-threatening events but are unable to recover to the point that they are fully independent of life support. These patients are known as “chronically critically ill.” Chronic critical illness (CCI) is usually defined as an ICU patient who requires more than 21 days of assisted ventilation. Although prolonged dependence on mechanical ventilation is a hallmark of CCI, CCI is not simply an extended period of acute critical illness but a discreet syndrome encompassing distinctive derangements of metabolism, organ dysfunction, and endocrine and immunologic function.1–3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Paul Ellis Marik MBBCh, FCP(SA), FRCP(C), FCCP, FCCM, FACP, MD

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  1. Paul Ellis Marik MBBCh, FCP(SA), FRCP(C), FCCP, FCCM, FACP, MD
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Correspondence to Paul Ellis Marik MBBCh, FCP(SA), FRCP(C), FCCP, FCCM, FACP, MD .

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Marik, P.E. (2010). Chronic Critical Illness. In: Handbook of Evidence-Based Critical Care. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5923-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5923-2_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-5922-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-5923-2

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