What Happens After You Leave the Intensive Care Unit?
If you have never been hospitalized, you may think of the day the patient leaves the hospital as an unusual event in their recovery: as a sign that they are either fully recovered from their illness, illness, or injury, or very close to it. But prolonged hospital stays have consequences, often leading to so-called “post-intensive care syndrome” or PICS.
“Discharging from the hospital is a great achievement,” says Brad Butcher , founder and director of the Critical Illness Center at the University of Pittsburgh Mercy Medical Center, which treats patients recovering from long hospital stays. However, he notes that leaving the hospital simply means that the patient is “taking one journey and taking the first steps in another.” Recovering from a serious illness takes a long time, and the experience is different for everyone.
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PICS is a set of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that persist after a patient is discharged from the hospital. Many of these symptoms are a direct result of the hospital stay itself – measures taken to keep the patient alive – and not specific to illness or injury. It can take months, if not years, for these symptoms to disappear.
“PICS has been with us since we had intensive care, but it has only recently been recognized and thoroughly researched,” says Butcher.
PEAK symptoms are often the result of long periods of stay in bed, as well as side effects from life-saving procedures such as turning on a ventilator or breathing tube, or taking sedatives or pain relievers.
During extended hospital stays, patients can develop delirium, either as a result of certain medications or as a result of prolonged critical care, which can affect their long-term cognitive function, Butcher notes. In addition, there is the emotional impact of being critical, which is itself a form of trauma and can lead to anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
“Experiencing these emotions and experiences can be a trigger,” says Butcher.
The consequences of a long hospital stay affect not only the patient, but also the relatives and caregivers. For them, this can also include experiences of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
COVID-19 Precautions Likely To Complicate PICS Symptoms
For many COVID-19 patients requiring extended hospital stays, the path to recovery is likely to include many, if not all of these symptoms. They will also be compounded by the consequences of isolation and the necessary precautions taken by health-care workers.
For example, visiting family members is often a way to improve the patient’s emotional state during hospitalization, as well as counteract the effects of sedation-induced delirium. Meanwhile, the physical therapy needed to treat the effects of prolonged bedtime may be more limited, typically due to concerns about COVID-19 transmission.
PICS is more common than people think
As Butcher notes, many patients who come to his center think they are struggling alone in their attempts to adjust to the new reality of their life after illness, whether it be fighting lingering physical symptoms or dealing with deep emotional and mental problems. consequences of a serious illness.
“For many people, going through a serious illness is a life-changing event,” says Butcher. “It completely changes the trajectory of their lives.”
Recovering two patients will not look the same. There is no doubt that leaving the hospital is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of another.