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Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that develops after an infection. The infection triggers inflammation in the body. This inflammation can affect organ systems and cause damage. Sepsis needs to be treated quickly. If it is not treated, it can become severe. Severe sepsis can lead to "septic shock." In septic shock, which occurs as sepsis progresses, the heart and vascular system are affected and a serious drop in blood pressure is seen. Other organs are also affected, and multiple organ failure can develop. This can cause death. Early treatment of sepsis, including antibiotics and intravenous fluids, is important for survival.

Common symptoms of sepsis and severe sepsis are as follows:
1- Fever or low body temperature
2- Shivering
3- Very rapid breathing
4- Very rapid heartbeat
5 - Change in consciousness
6- Difficulty breathing
7- Cold, clammy skin or red, flushed skin
8- Passing much less urine than normal
9 - Other problems related to the heart, kidneys and brain

Sepsis is the most important cause of death in patients who develop infections.

Acute respiratory failure is a condition in which the respiratory system suddenly becomes unable to carry out gas exchange as required. It results in the blood not containing an adequate level of the oxygen needed for organs to perform their normal functions and/or carbon dioxide not being removed from the body. It can develop in healthy people with no previous respiratory disease or in people with known chronic respiratory failure. The work of breathing is carried out not by the lungs alone but by many organs working together. The most important symptom in respiratory failure is difficulty breathing. It can develop suddenly in the form of attacks in people known to have airway narrowing (for example, asthma, COPD), or through collapse of the gas exchange units or their filling with fluid (for example, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome), and it can also be seen in conditions affecting the nervous system, respiratory muscles, chest wall and upper airways, as well as in patients after surgery or in shock.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition of severe respiratory failure that develops when the air sacs in the lungs fill with fluid. As a result, less oxygen enters the bloodstream, and the lack of oxygen adversely affects all organs. The main symptom of ARDS is severe shortness of breath. ARDS can develop within a short time, from a few hours to a few days, after trauma or a serious underlying illness. Once ARDS occurs, the risk of death increases.

In intensive care patients, the most important risk for developing infection comes from microorganisms colonizing the patients' oropharyngeal and gastrointestinal systems. To prevent the transmission of infection among patients, hand hygiene, the use of gloves, wearing protective gowns, and the use of masks and goggles when secretions may splash onto the face and eyes are required. When leaving the patient's side, the gown, mask and gloves must be removed and discarded. The use of shoe covers is unnecessary for preventing infections in intensive care. Tools and equipment used for a patient are used exclusively for that patient. If they are to be used for other patients, they are used only after being disinfected and sterilized beforehand. Visitors with a contagious infectious disease should not visit patients.

In patients with a diagnosed or suspected contagious disease, isolation precautions are taken in addition to standard precautions. Contact isolation is applied to prevent the transmission of microorganisms with multiple antibiotic resistance.

It is a life-threatening illness that requires intensive care. Some conditions that cause critical illness are as follows:
1- Lung problems such as COPD, asthma attack, severe pneumonia, fluid in the lung (pulmonary edema), a clot in the lung vessels (pulmonary embolism), and coughing up blood

These problems may cause patients to remain connected to a respiratory support unit until the problem is resolved.

2- Heart and vascular system problems such as heart attack, heart failure, abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmias), and very high or very low blood pressure (shock)

3- Brain problems such as bleeding into the brain, stroke, seizures, coma, brain trauma and encephalopathy

4- Infections that spread through the blood and affect the whole body (sepsis)

5- High-risk surgical patients who need to be monitored because serious problems may occur after surgery

6- Major organ failures such as acute kidney failure and acute liver failure

7- Bleeding, trauma (such as car accidents, gunshot wounds, burns...) and poisoning

Patients admitted to intensive care are planned to recover quickly. In some patients, the need for a ventilator or other intensive care treatment disappears within a few days. However, in some patients, the critical illness process may be prolonged despite good intensive care. Chronic critical illness may develop, and these patients have difficulty breathing on their own without being connected to a ventilator.

A respiratory support unit (mechanical ventilator) is a device that assists the lungs in breathing and provides oxygen. When patients are connected to this device, a tube is placed through the mouth into the windpipe, or they are ventilated with the help of a mask. If a ventilator will be needed for a very long time, the intensive care team may recommend connecting directly to the windpipe through the neck with a shorter tube. By performing a procedure called a tracheostomy on the neck, a connection to the windpipe is made below the vocal cords with a short tube. The patient is connected to the ventilator through this connection. A tracheostomy is a short surgical procedure performed in the intensive care unit and sometimes in the operating room. The tracheostomy procedure is performed after the benefits and risks are explained to the patient and their relatives and consent is obtained.

During critical illness, patients cannot take in enough food. Sometimes the stomach and intestines may not work well enough. In these cases, nutritional support can be provided in different ways. Nutrition can be provided through a feeding tube passed through the nose into the stomach. However, when the digestive tract is not working, nutrition can be provided intravenously. It is preferred that nutrition be given by the most natural route possible, that is, by mouth or into the stomach. However, sometimes a tube must be placed through the skin into the stomach or intestine in patients who will not be able to eat by mouth for a very long time.

It is a prolonged state of unconsciousness that can result from various causes such as traumatic head injury, stroke, brain tumor, drug or alcohol poisoning, or even underlying diabetes or an infection. A coma is a medical emergency. In prolonged unconsciousness, a transition to a permanent vegetative state may occur. Depending on the cause, it may not be possible to wake those who have been in a permanent vegetative state for a long time. The following signs and symptoms are generally seen in patients in a coma:

Closed eyes, suppressed brainstem reflexes (for example, the pupils do not respond to light), no response to painful stimuli other than reflex movements, and irregular breathing.

It is a sudden circulatory failure that occurs because the heart and vascular system cannot deliver enough blood to the organs in the right proportion. As a result, the oxygen and other substances needed by the tissues cannot be supplied. In shock, blood pressure drops and there is not enough pressure to send blood to the tissues. Early and appropriate treatment is important. A weak pulse, cold sweating, rapid breathing, passing very little urine, restlessness and changes in consciousness may be seen. If shock lasts a long time, blood supply to the tissues will be impaired and organ failures can develop. The most important causes of shock are heart diseases, insufficient fluid volume in the blood due to bleeding or dehydration, and sepsis. Allergic reactions, nervous system damage, spinal cord injury or an infection (for example, toxic shock syndrome) are some other conditions in which shock can develop.

It is the complete and irreversible loss of brain functions. It results in absolute death. In a patient with brain death, only a pulse and heartbeat can be detected. The diagnosis of brain death is made by trained specialists from various departments (Neurology, Neurosurgery, Cardiology and Anesthesiology and Reanimation) within the rules set by law. The diagnosis of brain death is made after all physicians confirm it. Patients are examined repeatedly to be sure that all brain functions have been lost. Confirmatory tests are always performed together with the "apnea test," which shows that the patient has no spontaneous breathing at all.

The brain needs oxygen continuously to carry out its normal functions. Hypoxic refers to a partial lack of oxygen. The lack of oxygen leads to impairments in cognitive ability and physical functions. Patients diagnosed with hypoxic brain have to receive medical care and rehabilitation support for a long period. The most common cause is cardiac arrest. In addition, it can develop whenever the delivery of oxygen to the brain is cut off, for many reasons such as stroke, asphyxia during suicide attempts, near-drowning, trauma, severe bronchial asthma and COPD attacks, carbon monoxide poisoning and acute bleeding. At first, there is complete loss of consciousness. Patients cannot be awakened. After a loss of consciousness that may be short or long, a vegetative state may be observed. In this state, the patient is awake but completely unresponsive to external stimuli. Even if consciousness improves over time in some patients, a wide range of problems may occur, including memory loss, speech disorders, loss of balance, partial or near-complete loss of body movements and senses, loss of attention and some psychological problems.