An Overview of the Treatment Strategies of Extremities Ischemia in the Intensive Care Unit

Objectives: To investigate the effect of the peripheral block on peripheral ischemia on the extremities of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: Sixty-two patients with ischemic peripheral vascular disease were divided retrospectively into two groups; Group 1 (patients who underwent USG-guided infraclavicular or femoral block, n=20) and Group 2 (patients who did not experience any block, n=42). The demographic characteristics of the patients, the diagnosis of hospitalization, the day when the circulatory disorder developed, laboratory tests at the time of diagnosis, other medical treatments applied, presence of inotropic support, the response of ischemia on extremities, amputation, duration of hospital stay, discharge and mortality were compared. Results: The most common reason for hospitalization was cerebrovascular disease. There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding age, gender, height, body weight, and diagnosis. There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding hematocrit, lactate, creatinine, and albumin values, the day when the peripheral ischemia developed in extremities, inotropic and prednisolone use, presence of cannulation, length of hospital stays, and mortality. The number of patients discharged from the intensive care unit in Group 1 was significantly higher than in Group 2 (p=0.048). Amputation was performed on one patient in Group 1 and two patients in Group 2. There was a decrease in peripheral ischemia in 14 (70%) of the patients in Group 1 and 25 (59.5%) of the patients in Group 2. Conclusions: Targeted peripheral block techniques for peripheral circulatory disorders for selected ICU patients in conjunction with preventive and medical treatments may decrease peripheral ischemia in extremities and increase ICU discharge.