Muscle atrophy in cancer patients in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Immobilization and prolonged bed rest of patients in the Intensive Care Unit can lead to muscle atrophy and muscular weakness. This study was conducted to quantify the adverse effects of prolonged bed rest. Seven cancer patients in the ICU of the Hospital do Cancer were underwent ultrasound evaluation, which measured the thickness of the gastrocnemius and femoral quadriceps muscles at interval of five days. All patients were under mechanical ventilation and received nutritional support, chest
physiotherapy and passive limb movements performed by a physiotherapist. We found that muscle thickness decreased in all patients studied, the means percent of muscle reduction were 28% (13.1 a 37.5%) and 34.6% (11.2 a 62.7) for gastrocnemius and femoral quadriceps respectively. Complete deambulation recovery occurred between 3 to 7 days after ICU discharge. All cancer patients presented severe muscle atrophy and muscular weakness during ICU treatment. Further studies are necessary to establish the importance of physical therapy to prevent and treat muscle atrophy in patients in the ICU.