Sedation, Analgesia and Muscle Relaxation in NICU

Sedation, analgesia, and muscle relaxation are crucial in the management of patients admitted to neurointensive care unit (NICU). In NICU, the aims of sedation analgesia and muscle relaxation are specific and encompass brain physiology and peculiar patterns of brain injury. Counterbalancing the positive aspects and side effects of each sedative is pivotal for clinicians. Monitoring is fundamental and sedation holds, defined as interruptions or de-escalation of sedatives, has the target of allowing the patient’s arousal, and clinically identifying any focal or global neurological impairment useful for subsequent patient management. Clinical scales and new delivery technologies will help the monitoring and the clinical evaluation of the patient. Status epilepticus and delirium represent complex situations in which sedation, analgesia, and muscle relaxation have a large role in the treatment or even in triggering the clinical picture.