Pain, Delirium, and the Jungle Within

Noor Al Kaabi, 2T7 MAM

Artist’s Statement: This artwork captures the visceral experience of pain and delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU). A woman lies in her hospital bed and her hair transforms into a dense and tangled jungle — her mind is both sanctuary and a nightmare.

Through this piece, I explore the delicate balance between alleviating suffering and the cognitive consequences of sedation. Physicians are tasked with understanding the evolving landscape of pain management. Recent evidence favors multimodal pain relief strategies over excessive sedation to reduce ICU delirium and cognitive impairment. The historical reliance on benzodiazepines is waning, while non-pharmacologic interventions such as early mobility gain favour.

This piece invites the viewer to step into this complex intersection of medicine, ethics, and human vulnerability.

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