Report Viewer

NINDS CDE Notice of Copyright
Overall Measurement Schema for Intensive Care Unit - Acquired Weakness and Related Conditions
Availability
To learn more about this measurement: Intensive Care Unit Aquired Weakness
Classification
Exploratory: Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysms and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH)
Short Description of Instrument
Many patients admitted to the ICU will develop a form of muscle weakness that is commonly referred to "intensive care unit acquired weakness" (ICUAW). It can be due to either axonal neuropathy, primary myopathy or both. Risk factors for ICUAW include a high severity of illness upon admission to the ICU, multiple organ failure, sepsis, prolonged immobilization, age and hyperglycemia. Diagnosis is made by muscle strength evaluation with the Medical Research Council (MRC) sum score.
Scoring
The MRC sum score designates a value for each of 12 muscle groups between 0 (no contraction) and 5 (normal muscle strength):
Shoulder abduction
Elbow flexion
Wrist extension
Hip flexion
Knee extension
Dorsiflexion
Scores are made bilaterally and the sum score ranges from 0–60.
ICUAW is diagnosed when there is a sum score < 48.
References
Hermans G, Van den Berghe G. Clinical review: intensive care unit acquired weakness. Crit Care. 2015;19:274.
 
Nordon-Craft A, Moss M, Quan D, Schenkman M. Intensive care unit-acquired weakness: implications for physical therapist management. Phys Ther. 2012;92(12):1494-1506.

 

Document last updated July 2019