PTEACS Physical Therapy Test 2 Practice

ICU-acquired weakness is generalized, diffuse weakness of the skeletal muscles that develops during a stay in the intensive care unit in the setting of critical illness. It comes from a combination of factors: prolonged immobility leading to disuse atrophy, systemic inflammation from severe illness, and exposure to certain medications such as corticosteroids and neuromuscular blocking agents. This mix tends to affect multiple muscle groups evenly, including the muscles that help with breathing, which can make weaning from a ventilator harder.

Think of it as a widespread problem affecting many muscles rather than a problem limited to a single joint or a localized area. That’s why the option describing localized joint stiffness doesn’t fit, and the idea of nerve damage unrelated to the ICU doesn’t capture the ICU-linked, multifactorial onset. Muscle hypertrophy from training is the opposite of weakness, so it wouldn’t describe ICU-acquired weakness.