Pratik Pandharipande

Former Vanderbilt University Hospital patients who had long recoveries at the Nashville medical facility reconnect with the care teams who helped them regain their health. (photo by Susan Urmy)

March 12, 2025

Great Saves event reunites medical teams with grateful former patients and families

Former patients who recovered from serious illness and life-preserving surgeries in the SICU returned for a “Great Saves” event to share health updates and their gratitude with the people they credit with saving their lives.

By Jill Clendening

Christopher Hughes, MD, left, Pratik Pandharipande, MD, MSCI, and colleagues are studying two drugs recommended for patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the ICU.

February 2, 2021

Study finds recommended ICU sedatives equally safe, effective

Sedative medications used in intensive care are associated with increased delirium, which is in turn connected with higher medical costs and greater risk of death and ICU-related dementia.

By Paul Govern

January 8, 2021

Large study finds higher burden of acute brain dysfunction for COVID-19 ICU patients

COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care in the early months of the pandemic were subject to a significantly higher burden of delirium and coma than is typically found in patients with acute respiratory failure. Choice of sedative medications and curbs on family visitation played a role in increasing acute brain dysfunction for these patients.

By Paul Govern

October 4, 2018

New center formed to treat, study ICU delirium, dementia

Millions of patients in intensive care units each year develop delirium during their hospitalization and often leave the hospital with cognitive deficits similar to those suffering from traumatic brain injury or mild Alzheimer’s disease.

By Nancy Humphrey

March 20, 2014

Pandharipande named chief of Anesthesiology Critical Care

Pratik Pandharipande, M.D., MSCI, professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery, has been named chief of the Division of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine, succeeding C. Lee Parmley, M.D., J.D., who was named chief of staff of Vanderbilt University Hospital earlier this month.

By Jill Clendening

October 3, 2013

Study finds cognitive deficits common after critical illness

Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe enter their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but often leave with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that persist for at least a year, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

By Craig Boerner

November 15, 2012
Grant to bolster care of ventilated ICU patients

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have received a $2.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to continue studying ways to improve sedation management for intensive care unit patients who are on mechanical ventilators.
By Jill Clendening
April 17, 2012
Pathways to delirium in the ICU

Study suggests that the “kynurenine” biochemical pathway could be a target for reducing delirium and coma in critically ill patients.
By Leigh MacMillan