Critical Illness Polyneuropathy

위험질병 다발신경병증

The occurrence of muscle weakness in patients with sepsis or multiple organ failure managed in the intensive care unit has been recognized with increasing frequency in the last two decades. The difficulty in examining critically ill patients may explain why this complication has been only recently recognized. This weakness is due to an axonal polyneuropathy which is called critical illness polyneuropathy(CIP). It must be differentiated from myopathy or neuromuscular junction disturbance that can also occur in the intensive care setting. Neither the cause nor the exact mechanism of CIP has been elucidated. Electrophysiological studies demonstrated an acute axonal damage of the peripheral nerves. Before the recognition of CIP, these cases were usually misdiagnosed as Guillain-$Barr{\acute{e}}$ syndrome. Clinical recovery from the neuropathy is rapid and nearly complete in those patients who survive. Thus, neuropathy acquired during critical illness, although causing a delayed in weaning from ventilatory support and hospital discharge, does not worsen long-term prognosis.