Journal of the neurological sciences
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Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) is an important complication of critical illness. The main risk factors, sepsis and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome, suggest an inflammatory pathogenesis. In this systematic translational review we summarize current knowledge on inflammation in muscle and nerve tissue in animal models of ICU-AW and in critically ill patients with ICU-AW. ⋯ This systematic translational review suggests a role for local inflammation in ICU-AW, but the available evidence is limited and studies have severe methodological limitations.