Monitoring Αrrhythmias in the ICU: Rationale, Frequency and Confrontation

Indroduction: Introduction: Cardiac arrhythmias in the ICU are quite common and require proper monitoring and confrontation. Arrhythmias appear among the critically ill patients as counterbalancing mechanisms of particular infections and illnesses. Aim: Study and record both frequency and severity of cardiac arrhythmia episodes in critically ill patients, along with the most efficient ways of terminating or controlling them. Method: The particular essay was a descriptive, non-accidental research of the cardiac arrhythmia incidence in critically ill patients. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected for all the patients who were admitted in the University Intensive Care (ICU) Unit of KAT Hospital for a period of six months. The collected characteristics included previous arrhythmia episodes, cardiologic assessment and previous cardiologic problems. Statistical package Graphpad version 4.0 was used for the statistical analysis. Results: At least one episode of cardiac arrhythmia appeared in 36.8 % (n=21) of the patients during their stay in the ICU and it occurred in the first five days of their stay. 40 episodes of cardiac arrhythmia were noted; 16 of them were severe. Arterial hypertension and coronary illness were independent risk factors of severe cardiac arrhythmia episodes. Most of the severe episodes were well confronted and 18.7 % of the episodes were not confronted at all. Conclusions: Cardiac arrhythmias in the ICU are very common among the critically ill patients and request special confrontation. One of two patients who are admitted in the ICU suffering from a cardiologic problem is expected to appear arrhythmia. All of the patients with previous cardiac arrest will appear at least one episode of severe cardiac arrhythmia. Correct and on-time recognition of all types of arrhythmia is significant. It is quite common that arrhythmias appear as counterbalancing mechanisms of particular infections and illnesses, and are automatically reset to sinus rhythm.