Which term describes the long-term effects following an ICU stay?

• A. Post-Intensive Care Syndrome
• B. Post-ICU Syndrome
• C. Chronic Critical Illness
• D. ICU Syndrome

Answer: (A)

Post-Intensive Care Syndrome describes the long-term physical, cognitive, and psychological problems that can persist after an ICU stay. These issues may start during the critical illness but often become evident or remain after discharge, lasting months to years. Physically, patients may have weakness and fatigue from deconditioning; cognitively, problems with memory, attention, and processing; and psychologically, anxiety, depression, or PTSD. This term provides a framework for recognizing and addressing survivorship challenges and highlights the value of interventions like early mobilization in the ICU to reduce later disability. While Post-ICU Syndrome is sometimes used, the formal term is Post-Intensive Care Syndrome. Chronic Critical Illness refers to a broader trajectory of ongoing organ dysfunction and prolonged dependence on life-sustaining therapies, not specifically the post-ICU symptom cluster, and ICU Syndrome is not an established term.