Highly Accessed Letter

Reducing sensory input in critically ill patients: are eyemasks a blind spot?

Koen S Simons1,2*, Mark van den Boogaard2 and Cornelis PC de Jager1

Author Affiliations

1 Departement of Intensive Care, Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis, 5200 ME, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

2 Departement of Intensive Care, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

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Critical Care 2012, 16:439 doi:10.1186/cc11402


See related research by Van Rompaey et al., http://ccforum.com/content/16/3/R73

Published: 16 July 2012

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

We read with interest the article by Van Rompaey and colleagues [1] reporting that earplugs may be useful in the prevention of delirium in non-ventilated ICU patients. Unfortunately, they did not report any potentially negative effects of earplugs related to sensory deprivation - for example, restlessness, discomfort, or anxiety.