Adult sedation and analgesia in a resource limited intensive care unit – A Systematic Review and evidence based guideline

Sedation and analgesia are essential in the intensive care unit in order to promote control of pain, anxiety, prevent loss of materials, accidental extubation and improve the synchrony of patients with ventilator. However, excess of these medications leads to an increased morbidity and mortality, and thus demands protocol. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and the Meta-Analysis Protocol have been used to undertake this review. Pub Med, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar search engines were used to find up-to-date evidence that helps to draw recommendations and conclusions. In this Guideline and Systematic Review, we have used 16 Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis, 3 Evidence-Based Guidelines and 10 RCT Meta-Analysis, 6 Systemic Reviews of Non-randomized Studies, 8 Randomized Clinical Trials, 11 Cohort Studies, 5 Cross-Sectional Studies and 1 Case Report with their respective study descriptions. Analgesia, which as a sedation basement can reduce sedative use, is key aspect of treatment in ICU patients, and we can also conclude that an analgesic sedation regimen can reduce the occurrence of delirium by reducing sedatives. The aim of this guideline and the systematic review is to write up and formulate analgesia-based sedation for limited resource settings. Analgesia and sedation are effective in critically ill patients; however, too much sedation is associated with longer periods of mechanical ventilation and longer duration of ICU stay. Poorly managed ICU patients have a delirium rate of up to 80%, increased mortality, longer hospital stays, higher hospital costs and bad long-term outcomes.