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Hi, it’s  Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

Many families in intensive care come to us and they want to know the difference between sedation and paralytics. So the two have nothing in common really and probably should expand that question really the difference between sedation opiates, and paralytics. So let me break this down for you.

Many of your family members in intensive care is most likely in an induced coma on a ventilator with a breathing tube. When they first end up on a mechanical ventilator and the breathing tube they need an induced coma because it’s so uncomfortable to get on a breathing tube and on a ventilator. So in order to achieve that to ease the burden and make it more comfortable, and the induced coma goes hand in hand with starting sedation such as propofol or midazolam also known as versed and also goes hand in hand with opiates such as morphine or fentanyl to get into induced coma.

Paralytics only come in if somebody is in an induced coma, nobody can have paralytics without an induced coma and without the sedatives and the opiates, because basically paralytics are paralyzing agents. And if somebody is paralyzed, they absolutely need to be in an induced coma because imagine, you’re paralyzing somebody, while they’re conscious and they stop breathing. That’s horrible.

So if somebody needs paralyzing agents, they always need to have sedation and induced coma and opiates, strong pain relief, such as fentanyl, and morphine. Otherwise, it’s just dangerous and also cruel.

As you may have heard me say before, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is that they don’t know what they don’t know. And here at intensivecarehotline.com, we’re helping you trying to understand the difficult and challenging landscape that is intensive care or ICU.

Now if you have any other questions, just send me an email to [email protected] or call us on one of the numbers on the top of the website at intensivecarehotline.com. Or you can just post your question below this video and you can also like, comment and subscribe to my channel here on YouTube.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I’ll talk to you in a few days.