Observational studies of patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation and other
forms of critical care support have determined acquired neuromuscular disorders to be
extremely common. Early studies used electrophysiologic investigations to diagnose critical
illness polyneuropathy (CIP) and muscle biopsy to confirm critical illness myopathy (CIM).
More recent approaches seek to obviate these invasive techniques and build on a
standardized bedside neuromuscular examination to identify patients with acquired …