Clinical Course of Amantadine in Patients with Prolonged Consciousness Disorder in the Intensive Care Unit

<strong>Background and Aims:</strong> This study aimed to evaluate the clinical course of amantadine treatment on consciousness recovery in patients with prolonged impairment admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for various reasons. <strong>Methods:</strong> This was a retrospective descriptive study. The study included patients hospitalised in the ICU within 2 years (01.01.2022-01.09.2023) and who were administered intravenous amantadine to treat the prolonged consciousness disorder. Improvement in consciousness was defined as at least a two-point increase in the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score. <strong><span class="ql-cursor"></span>Results: </strong>This study encompassed 21 participants, with an average age of 68.3±17.6 years. The median (Inter Quantile Range [IQR]) starting dose of amantadine was 400 mg/day (150-600), initiated 16.6±9.5 days post ICU admission. Notably, 76.2% experienced consciousness recovery within a median (IQR) time of 3.5 days (2-5.75) after amantadine initiation. A significant positive correlation between consciousness recovery and sex (r: 0.533, p:0.013) was observed, with all men and 45.4% of women achieving recovery. Chi-square analysis indicated a sex-related significant difference in consciousness recovery status (p:0.015). However, the logistic regression analysis failed to establish a meaningful model. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Amantadine treatment shows promise in improving cognitive status in ICU patients with prolonged consciousness disorders. Further confirmatory studies with larger sample sizes, randomised designs, and standardised outcome measures are warranted to validate these findings.