Impact of antimicrobial resistance in critically ill patients in the intensive care unit

Abstract

According to the Pan American Health Organization, multidrug-resistant pathogens are responsible for an increase in morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients, leading to higher healthcare costs due to the need for prescribing more expensive medications. The aim of the research was to identify, through literature review, the impact of antimicrobial resistance in Intensive Care Units. The bibliographic review study employed a qualitative methodology; its scope was explanatory, and it utilized the historical-logical method for theoretical knowledge acquisition. For empirical knowledge, documentary analysis was used, including publications found in databases such as Scielo, PubMed, Lilacs, Dialnet, Redalyc, Google Scholar, Elsevier, institutional repositories, among others. It was evidenced that the direct causes of death and bacterial resistance in the Intensive Care Unit are sepsis, followed by septic shock, the multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, and some of the antimicrobials currently used in ICUs, such as Piperacillin-Tazobactam, Cefepime, Amikacin, Cefotaxime, and the germs that showed resistance to these antimicrobials, firstly identified were Enterobacter Aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus Aureus. It is concluded that, in terms of the incidence of healthcare-associated infections, there is a significant impact on the health system, increasing the morbidity and mortality of the patient by up to 50 %, including longer hospital stays, greater use of antibiotics, worse prognosis, higher complication rates, and even death