Maintaining sedation and agitation scores with in the optimal range and minimizing sedative infusion and inotropic support enhances the likelihood of early and frequent mobilization in patients with burns admitted to the ICU, according to a study published in Burns. Researchers reviewed digital medical records to explore episodes of functional verticality milestones (FVMs) and patient factors that may contribute to persistent bed rest, such as use of infused sedative and/or inotropic medication, mechanical ventilation, burn surgery, total body surface area (TBSA) burned, ICU length of stay, and pre ICU practices. They found that when sedation/ agitation scores were within recommended limits, the odds of achieving FVMs was 21 times greater than periods outside those limits. When deep sedatives were infused, the odds of achieving FVMs decreased by 87% compared with periods without infusion of these medications.
