Table 2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria - patients are included if thay meet all three criteria, and are excluded if they meet one or more of the following criteria
From: Enteral vs. intravenous ICU sedation management: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
| Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria |
|---|---|
| SAPS II ≥ 32 points | Neurosurgical patients |
| Estimated length of mechanical ventilation at ICU admission ≥ 3 days | CNS diseases (epilepsy, stroke, dementia, post-anoxic coma) |
| Age ≥ 18 years | Liver encephalopathy (Child-Pugh C) |
| Previous psychiatric or cognitive pathology | |
| Allergy to medications used in the study | |
| Absolute contraindications to the use of enteral route (nasogastric tube, nasojejunal tube, jejunostomy, ileostomy are all considered acceptable) | |
| Pregnant or breast-feeding patients | |
| Death is deemed imminent and inevitable or the patient has an underlying disease process with a life expectancy of < 90 days |