What is Causing Multi-Organ Failure? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care!

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

So today, I have an email from Sarah who says, “What causes multi-organ failure for my mom in intensive care?” That’s a very succinct question and it’s probably not a simple one to answer, but I will condense it to the answers as much as possible so that you have an understanding of what’s causing multi-organ failure in intensive care and why it’s life-threatening.

So, let’s start with when perfusion is shut off from major organs. So, when patients go into intensive care, usually or sometimes, they are hemodynamically unstable, that means their blood pressure usually drops, and goes down to levels that can be incompatible with life or can be life-threatening.

One of the major side effects of that is that blood flow and therefore also oxygenation is cut off from organs. If the blood supply and oxygen supplies is down for over 3 minutes, that can cause organ failure, often irreversible organ failure. So, that’s why it’s so important in intensive care to monitor vital signs 24/7, every minute.

If your vital signs change, you need to react pretty quickly whether it’s heart rate going up or down, whether it’s irregular heart rhythm, whether it’s blood pressure up or down. You need to manage it very, very quickly and very, very efficiently so that all major organs remain perfused.

Other reasons for major organ failure could be a major cardiac event such as a heart attack or a cardiac arrest or, once again, if the heart is not beating properly. If for example, the ejection fraction, also known as contractility, is poor, that could also cause multi-organ failure because once again, organs such as the kidneys, the liver, the brain, the lungs, the heart, are not properly perfused.

Now, what I just described a minute ago, when blood pressure goes too low, that is also often described as shock or a cardiogenic shock. Once again, if there’s a shock situation, blood pressure goes down, and sometimes heart rate goes down to the point where it’s life-threatening.

If you’re not starting inotropes, vasopressors, or sometimes if it’s caused by an irregular heart rhythm, if you’re not managing that with medications or sometimes with fluid boluses, it’s very challenging. It can be very challenging.

So, I hope that really helps.

How is it diagnosed? Well, often with the liver function test, with the kidney function test, with the blood test. If it’s a septic shock, is there an infection somewhere? Echocardiograms or ultrasounds of the heart. Of course, if there’s lung failure, chest X-ray, CT (Computed tomography) scan of the chest, arterial blood gases.

How do you treat it? Often with IV fluids, with antibiotics, with blood transfusions, with vasopressors, inotropes, oxygen therapy, mechanical ventilation, and in case of kidney failure, dialysis.

So, I hope that helps explain the situation.

Two more organs that we haven’t touched on is the brain. What if the brain is failing? Sometimes it’s just a matter of time. But again, it needs to be followed up with CT scans of the brain, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans of the brain, or EEGs (Electroencephalogram).

Another organ that we haven’t sort of touched on is the gastrointestinal tract, stomach bowels, and so forth. If they are not working, then often TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) is an option. TPN is intravenous nutrition.

So, I hope that gives you an overview of what can cause multi-organ failure and how it can be treated.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

We have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care intensivecarehotline.com. If you click on the membership link or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in a membership area and via email and we answer all questions, intensive care related.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I talk to doctors and nurses directly. I ask all the questions you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

I have worked in critical care for over 20 years in three different countries where I have also worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care for over 10 years here at intensivecarehotline.com. Please look up our testimonial section and our podcast section and hear what our clients have to say. I can say without exaggeration that we have saved lives with our consulting and advocacy over the years.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time. If you need a medical record review in real time, please contact us as well.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams so that you can have strong advocacy with family meetings in intensive care teams, and more importantly, you have a strategy. Most families have no strategies when going into a family meeting with intensive care teams. Unfortunately, they get walked all over because they have no strategies when they go into those meetings, and I will help you with having a clear-cut strategy.

We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care, if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

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Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care for now.