My brother had to be put back on a ventilator and taken back to ICU 2 days after his open heart surgery. He seemed to be really confused and started ripping out his IV s and things. It s now been over three weeks and he doesn t seem to be any better. Just looking for some answers because the hospital has none.
Hellothanks for posting here. There can be multiple factors here. Long term stay in the ICU can cause ICU psychosis which is a temporary condition even in people with no prior psychiatric ailment. The symptoms which he is having is typical of ICU psychosis. It usually requires no treatment rarely requires anxiolytic in the initial days. Also a window side bed in the ICU can help. Other causes can be hyponatremia- decreased levels of sodium in the body. In this case treatment is correction of sodium levels. Some medications like steroids and some antibiotics can also cause these symptoms so check with your doctor if he is on any of them. Thank you