Sleep Neurobiology and Critical Care Illness

Sleep Disturbances and Critical Illness

“…Patients may experience a decrease in total sleep time caused by several ICU environmental factors. In addition to a decrease in total sleep time, sleep is reported as fragmented, there is excessive light sleep and decreases in slow wave and REM sleep, abnormal or loss of circadian rhythms, and frequent arousals and awakenings [10,12]. Poor sleep efficiency and sleep latency also occur [11] and result in disproportionate daytime sleepiness.…”

“…These sources include alarms from monitoring devices infusion pumps, ventilators and normal function of the ventilator, telephones, beepers, overhead paging and health care providers having conversations at patients' bedsides [7][8][9]12,[15][16].…”

“…Light: Exposure to artificial light in the ICU 24 h a day can lead to altered sleep patterns [1,8,9,11,12,[15][16][17]. Exposure to artificial light is reported to stifle secretion of melatonin, which controls circadian rhythms.…”

“…Hallucinations and perceptual distortions associated with sleep deprivation in the ICU have also been implicated in delirium development [12].…”

“…It is the only tool that is reliable for measuring sleep, especially when evaluating patients with sleep disturbances [12]. This technology uses simultaneous recordings of EEG, electromyogram and recording of eye movement (electro-oculography).…”