Survival after long-term isoflurane sedation as opposed to intravenous sedation in critically ill surgical patients: Retrospective analysis

BACKGROUNDIsoflurane has shown better control of intensive care sedation than propofol or midazolam and seems to be a useful alternative. However, its effect on survival remains unclear. OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study is to compare mortality after sedation with either isoflurane or propofol/midazolam. DESIGNA retrospective analysis of data in a hospital database for a cohort of consecutive patients. SETTINGSixteen-bed interdisciplinary surgical ICU of a German university hospital. PATIENTSConsecutive cohort of 369 critically ill surgical patients defined within the database of the hospital information system. All patients were continuously ventilated and sedated for more than 96 h between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2010. After excluding 169 patients (93 >79 years old, 10