Dyspnea, Acute Respiratory Failure, Psychological Trauma, and Post-ICU Mental Health: A Caution and a Call for Research

Dyspnea is an uncomfortable sensation with the potential to cause psychological trauma. Patients presenting with acute respiratory failure, particularly when tidal volume is restricted during mechanical ventilation, may experience the most distressing form of dyspnea known as air hunger. Air hunger activates brain pathways known to be involved in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. These conditions are considered part of the post-intensive care syndrome. These sequelae may be even more prevalent among patients with ARDS. Low tidal volume, a mainstay of modern therapy for ARDS, is difficult to avoid and is likely to cause air hunger despite sedation. Adjunctive neuromuscular blockade does not prevent or relieve air hunger, but it does prevent the patient from communicating discomfort to caregivers. Consequently, paralysis may also contribute to the development of PTSD. Although research has identified post-ARDS PTSD as a cause for concern, and investigators have taken steps to quantify the burden of disease, there is little information to guide mechanical ventilation strategies designed to reduce its occurrence. We suggest such efforts will be more successful if they are directed at the known mechanisms of air hunger. Investigation of the antidyspnea effects of sedative and analgesic drugs commonly used in the ICU and their impact on post-ARDS PTSD symptoms is a logical next step. Although in practice we often accept negative consequences of life-saving therapies as unavoidable, we must understand the negative sequelae of our therapies and work to minimize them under our primary directive to “first, do no harm” to patients.