Neuroinflammation in High-Risk Patients in Intensive Care Settings

Abstract

Neuroinflammation of the central nervous system (CNS) is a critical condition in intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving mechanical ventilation and is often underrecognized as a contributing factor to cognitive deficits. Critically ill individuals are exposed to a wide range of systemic stressors, including sepsis, trauma, hypoxia, stress and discomfort associated with mechanical ventilation, and major surgery. These stressors can trigger inflammatory cascades that extend beyond the primary site of injury or infection and affect multiple organs, including the CNS. The resulting inflammatory response within the brain contributes to conditions such as delirium, sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE), cognitive dysfunction, and post-intensive care syndrome (PICS).1,2,3,4

As survival rates in critically ill patients continue to improve, attention has shifted toward understanding the neurological and cognitive sequelae associated with ICU care, making neuroinflammation an important area of contemporary critical care research. Critically ill patients are exposed to multiple triggers, including systemic infections and sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), mechanical ventilation, multiorgan failure, metabolic disturbances, drug-induced pulmonary toxicity, traumatic shock, and severe inflammatory states.1,2,3