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Home  Healthcare Articles Critical condition
Critical condition
In medicine, critical condition is the worst
physical state a patient can be in and still be alive. In most
cases, this means that the patient is in an intensive care unit
(ICU) and that the chance of death within 24 hours is high.
There are several other ratings often used by hospitals, but
their definitions are inconsistent. Such terms are mostly generated
for the benefit of news media, and doctors rarely use use the
phrases in their daily business, preferring to deal with medical
problems in greater detail.
A common progression might look like this:
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Critical condition - high risk of death
within 24 hours
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Serious condition - reduced risk of death
within 24 hours, but requiring frequent observation
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Stable condition - no major fluctuation
in vital signs
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Good condition - little significant injury,
patient may be discharged shortly
However, a range of different terms are used,
including things like extremely critical condition, critical
but stable condition, serious but stable condition, satisfactory
condition, and others. Definition varies between hospitals,
and it is even possible for a patient to be upgraded or downgraded
simply by being moved from one place to another, with no change
in actual physical state.
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