Management of critically ill patients difficult to sedate: Update and clinical strategies.

One in every three critically ill patients who receive prolonged analgosedation may experience difficult sedation, negatively influencing their evolution and prognosis. Difficult sedation includes situations of therapeutic failure, tolerance or deprivation of analgesic and sedative drugs. Its origin is multifactorial and depends on the patient's characteristics, history of drug consumption, critical condition and the administration of drugs that alter the pharmacokinetics of the sedatives used.