Utilization of traditional Chinese medicine in the intensive care unit

Previous studies showed that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may be effective for patients with critical conditions. However, the extent to which TCM is used in intensive care units (ICUs) remains less investigated. This study aimed to investigate the utilization of TCM among ICU patients. Using a cross-sectional study design, we examined the use of TCMs among ICU patients. The data were from a well-established ICU registry from a large teaching hospital in west China. Our study found that TCM was widely used among ICU, in particular TCM injections and oral liquids. The use of TCM often differed by ICUs, and TCM injections and oral liquids were mostly used in neurological ICU, while Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) were often used in general ICU. The use of TCM was also highly associated with patient characteristics. Patients with pancreatitis were administered with most TCM, patients with cerebrovascular disease with most TCM injections and those with chronic renal failure with most oral liquids. Future efforts should include generation of high-quality evidence guidelines about clinical effects of TCM interventions among ICU patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13020-021-00496-1.