1. Introduction
thirst, critically ill
CRITICALLY ILL
The intensive care unit (ICU), as the main place for hospitals to treat critically ill patients, not only provides emergency care conditions for patients, but also brings great pressure to patients. The noise of instruments, the large number of medical staff, and the continuous artificial lighting are all sources of stress for ICU patients, which often cause various discomfort during hospitalization and even after leaving the ICU.ICU patients often need to fast due to therapeutic factors. The incidence of thirst symptoms in ICU patients is high, which brings serious problems to ICU patients. Currently medical staff have gradually improved the recognition and intervention of thirst in ICU patients. However, at present, there are few studies on thirst in ICU fasted children. As a special population in ICU, fasted children are easy to be ignored in clinical work because their age, experience and stress state are different from adults.