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Critical Care Sedation pp 245–255Cite as

Sedation in Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit

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Abstract

In this chapter, an overview is presented of ICU sedation of patients undergoing heart operation. Cardiac patients are particularly vulnerable to the side effects of sedative drugs because of the limited cardiac reserve. Furthermore, patients scheduled for cardiac surgery are becoming increasingly frailer and aged, and thus they present with several associated comorbidities, such as atherosclerosis or neurocognitive dysfunction, which put them at risk to develop postoperative delirium and cognitive disabilities. Sedation has a pivotal role in the cardiac surgery setting, not only for the increasing need to calm delirious patients but also for its potential role, if not correctly managed, in inducing delirium itself. Nevertheless, the advances made by cardiac surgery in the last decades allowed to wean patients early in the postoperative period. Therefore, starting with the assumption that outcome is better if sedation is maintained not too deep and for the shortest time needed, the fast-track model diffused widely in the last 20 years and is nowadays the most common weaning strategy also after heart operations. Although it is not time yet to decide what sedative drug is better for cardiac patients, the most commonly used sedatives in this setting are also discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiac Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy

    Sergio Bevilacqua & Ilaria Galeotti

Authors
  1. Sergio Bevilacqua
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  2. Ilaria Galeotti
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergio Bevilacqua .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Firenze, Italy

    Angelo Raffaele De Gaudio

  2. Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Firenze, Italy

    Stefano Romagnoli

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Bevilacqua, S., Galeotti, I. (2018). Sedation in Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit. In: De Gaudio, A., Romagnoli, S. (eds) Critical Care Sedation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59312-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59312-8_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59311-1

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