Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0152025 (polyneuropathy)
 7,862 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Generalized muscle weakness in critically ill patients can result in prolonged periods of artificial ventilation and longer stays in the intensive care unit. Both neuropathic (critical illness polyneuropathy) and myopathic (critical illness myopathy) abnormalities seem to play an important role for this prolonged weakness. This article reviews its complex differential diagnosis with special emphasis on the current understanding of the neuromuscular syndromes. An efficient diagnostic plan is necessary for the exclusion of other curable causes of prolonged muscle weakness even in the presence of polyneuromyopathic changes. Psychological support of the patient and prophylaxis of secondary complications of prolonged immobilization are crucial when specific therapy is not possible.
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PMID:[Prolonged muscle weakness in intensive care patients with special attention to the so-called intensive care polyneuromyopathy]. 916 66

Generalized muscle weakness is a common disorder in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. The cause is unknown but is attributed to the administration of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking and other drugs, mainly steroids, or to the presence of sepsis or multiorgan failure. Specific clinical pictures (polyneuropathy, myopathy and prolonged muscle weakness) develop in function of the underlying cause, although etiological factors may sometimes interact. Differential diagnosis is carried out with the aid of electromyography and pathology of the peripheral muscle. Costs are high and prognosis is uncertain. Completeness of neuromuscular blockade must be monitored in these patients to guide the administration of drugs, to avoid overdoses, to maintain muscle activity and to detect a chain of reactions among concomitant medications or pathophysiologic changes.
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PMID:[Prolonged muscle weakness associated with the administration of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents in critically ill patients]. 1167 84