Colloid solutions in the critically ill

All patients admitted to an Intensive Care Unit were assigned randomly to one of two groups, A and B. Group A received colloid volume replacement as 4.5% albumin whilst group B received a synthetic colloid, polygeline. This study describes the changes in serum albumin concentration in survivors and nonsurvivors in the two groups during their stay in the Intensive Care Unit. The incidences of renal failure and pulmonary oedema were also assessed. Serum albumin concentration decreased in all nonsurvivors. In survivors the serum albumin concentration decreased to a greater extent in the synthetic colloid group than in the albumin group. Despite the differences in serum albumin concentration there were no significant differences between the groups in the incidences of pulmonary oedema or renal failure.     

Time-dependent error in the APACHE II scoring system.

Using the APACHE II scoring system, the risk of death was calculated for 189 patients in the Wanganui Intensive Care Unit and 194 patients in the Harare Intensive Care Unit. Using tables of actual and predicted outcome, the predictive power of the system was compared in patients grouped according to the length of time that they spent in the ICU. The predictive error increased from 15% in those patients staying less than six days, to 38% in those staying six days or more (P less than 0.01). The predictive accuracy of the APACHE II system appeared to decrease with the length of time the patient stayed in the Intensive Care Unit.     

Iatrogenic anaemia? A survey of venesection in patients in the Intensive Therapy Unit

In 30 consecutive patients admitted to the Intensive Therapy Unit, the volume of blood taken for investigations was recorded. Results were available for 26 patients. Total venesection volume averaged 336 ml. Venesection volume averaged 55.7 ml/day after the first 24 hours. The mean haemoglobin on admission was 11.5 g/d litre. Blood loss was related to both APACHE score and length of stay (APACHE.day), to the presence of arterial and central venous catheters, and to the need for mechanical ventilation. Iatrogenic blood loss of this magnitude will cause anaemia if it continues.     

The relationship of scoring systems and mortality in the surgical intensive care unit

To determine the relationship between severity of illness and mortality, therapeutic intervention score (TISS) and acute physiology score (APS) were determined on admission to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU). Patients were divided into survivors and nonsurvivors and differences were compared by chi-square analysis. The 1524 patients admitted to the SICU during a 12-month period had a mean TISS of 3.03 and a mean APS of 13. The average length of stay (LOS) was 3.75 days. Of the 1524 patients, 97 (6.4%) died. The number of nonsurvivors increased with higher TISS and APS scores (P less than 0.001). There were no deaths in the TISS Category 1 patients or in the APS 0-5 group. Mortality rates dramatically increased with APS greater than 20 (P less than 0.001). There were 1286 patients with APS less than 20, and 24 (2%) of these patients died, whereas 73 (31%) of 238 patients with APS greater than 20 died. Nonsurvivors had a mean TISS of 3.6, mean APS of 27, and LOS of 4.88 days, all of which totals were higher than the survivors' totals. In this study population, risk of death was one in three if the APS was greater than 20. These data indicate that TISS and APS scores are effective means of assessing mortality risk in SICU patients.     

Association of serum albumin concentration and mortality risk in critically ill patients

In this study we aimed to examine the association between serum albumin concentration and mortality risk in critically ill patients. We retrospectively studied 1003 patients admitted to ourIntensive Care Unit (ICU) over an 18-month period. Serial albumin measurements over 72 hours were compared between survivors and non-survivors, and medical and surgical patients were also compared. Our results showed that serum albumin decreased after ICU admission, most rapidly in the first 24 hours, in both survivors and non-survivors. Serum albumin was lower in non-survivors than in survivors, but albumin concentrations poorly differentiated the two groups. Medical patients had higher admission albumin levels than surgical patients, but both subgroups showed a similar albumin profile over 72 hours. We evaluated the prognostic value of serum albumin using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves. We constructed ROC curves for APACHE II score, admission albumin, albumin at 24 and 48 hours. We also combined APACHE II with albumin values and constructed the corresponding ROC curves. Our data showed that serum albumin had low sensitivity and specificity for predicting hospital mortality. Combining APACHE II score with serum albumin concentrations did not improve the accuracy of outcome prediction over that of APACHE II alone.     

非心脏手术患者术后早期谵妄与预后的关系

目的 探讨非心脏手术患者术后早期谵妄(EPD)与预后的关系.方法 采用前瞻性队列研究设计,选择2009年6月至12月在本院全麻下行非心脏手术患者698例,收集影响患者预后的相关因素,根据CAM-ICU诊断标准判断是否发生EPD,分为EPD组和非EPD组(NEPD组),以术后住院时间作为主要预后指标,将EPD和对术后住院时间有影响的混杂因素纳入Cox比例风险回归模型进行分析,筛选影响患者预后的危险因素.结果 EPD组197例,NEPD组501例,EPD发生率28.2%,EPD组患者术后住院时间长于NEPD组,EPD是影响患者预后的独立危险因素之一.结论 EPD是影响非心脏手术患者预后的独立危因素之一.     

Effects of APACHE II score on mechanical ventilation; prediction and outcome

AIM: To evaluate the influence of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score on the choice of mechanical ventilation method and treatment outcome. METHODS: A prospective, randomized trial was carried out at the multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit over 22 months. Research sample consisted of 129 patients who required mechanical ventilation, divided in two groups: APACHE II < or = 20 and APACHE II > 20. Both groups were than randomized for either noninvasive or invasive mechanical ventilation. Comparison was made based on patient characteristics, objective parameters and influence of APACHE II score on treatment success and failure. RESULTS: APACHE II scoring was shown to have statistical significance on outcome assessment. Statistical significance was in favour of patients with APACHE II score < or = 20 vs > 20 (ventilator associated pneumonia 0 vs. 10, tracheotomy 0 vs. 16, Intensive Care Unit mortality 0 vs 12). Furthermore, in the group with APACHE II score > 20, after randomization, there was a statistical significance in favour of noninvasive mechanical ventilation in need for tracheotomy 2 (4%) vs. 14 (28%) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Using good patient selection and applying strict protocols, in the group of patients with APACHE II < or = 20 all patients had successful mechanical ventilation, while in the group of patients with APACHE II > 20, noninvasive mechanical ventilation can be applied.     

The RACHS-1 risk categories reflect mortality and length of stay in a Danish population of children operated for congenital heart disease

Objective: The Risk Adjusted classification for Congenital Heart Surgery (RACHS-1) was created in order to compare in-hospital mortality for groups of children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease. The method was evaluated with two large multi-institutional data sets—the Paediatric Cardiac Care Consortium (PCCC) and Hospital Discharge (HD) data from three states in the USA. The RACHS-1 classification was later applied to a large German paediatric cardiac surgery population in Bad Oeynhausen (BO), where it was found that the RACHS-1 categories were also associated with length of stay. We applied the RACHS-1 classification to the 957 operations performed during January 1996 to December 2002 at Skejby Sygehus, Denmark and we examined the association between the RACHS-1 categories, in-hospital mortality and length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit. Methods: The operations were classified according to the six RACHS-1 categories by matching the procedure of each patient with a risk category. The ability of the RACHS-1 classification to predict mortality in our population was examined by estimating the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. Likelihood ratio χ² tests were used to compare the distribution of RACHS-1 categories and the distribution of mortality with PCCC, HD and BO. Linear regression was used to examine the correlation between the RACHS-1 categories and length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit. Results: The RACHS-1 category frequencies in our population were: category 1: 18.4%, category 2: 37.4%, category 3: 34.6%, category 4: 8.2%, category 5: 0% and category 6: 1.5%. The overall ability of the RACHS-1 classification to predict in-hospital mortality (area under the ROC curve 0.741; 95% confidence interval = 0.690; 0.791) was equal to the findings from larger populations. We found no differences in the category specific mortality when comparing with the larger reported series. There was a positive association between RACHS-1 category and length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit. Conclusions: The RACHS-1 classification can also be used to predict in-hospital mortality and length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit in a small volume centre.     

Evaluation of mortality of patients admitted to ICU for the last 12 years

We evaluated mortality of 2689 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, Osaka University Hospital from January, 1987 to December, 1998. The patients were divided into 3 groups. Group A consisted of 1408 patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery, group B, 1082 patients who underwent other surgical procedures and group C, 199 patients who were transferred from the department of medicine. We studied mortality rate, causes of death, correlation between length of ICU stay and mortality rate, and mortality rate among age groups for 12 years. The main causes of death were cardiac failure and sepsis in group A, and respiratory failure and sepsis in group B and C. Mortality rate in each group showed no significant change for the last 12 years. Those who stayed more than 2 weeks in ICU showed a significantly higher mortality rate (p < 0.0001). Thus, length of ICU stay and mortality rate showed a positive correlation (p < 0.0001). The youngest group (age 0-1) showed a significantly higher mortality rate than other age groups (p < 0.0001). As sepsis was the most important cause of death in all the groups, the prevention and treatment of infection are the most important issue in our ICU to reduce mortality rate.     

Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 as a tool of post ICU outcome prognosis and prevention

AIM: To examine the effects of severity upon discharge from Intensive Care Unit (ICU) status, as assessed by the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 (TISS-28) on subsequent post ICU outcome. METHODS: One-year retrospective observational study. Six bed general ICU in a general hospital with no High Dependency ICU unit (HDU) available. We used data from all patients admitted to the ICU. From all discharged patients, data on mean length of ICU stay, APACHE II upon admission and TISS-28 upon discharge were collected. RESULTS: Eighty-six patients, mean age 63.2, were discharged to hospital wards between January 1999 and December 1999. Age is a significant factor to contribute to outcome prediction, (p=0.0478). TISS-28 is statistically significant related to survival status. Thirteen patients that did not survive had higher TISS-28 values (p=0.0032). Length of ICU stay has a borderline association (p=0.063) with survival. CONCLUSION: Patients discharged from ICU have post ICU hospital length of stay and prognosis related to their age, time of hospitalization in ICU and their severity status upon discharge from the ICU. We believe that, based on the TISS-28 scoring system, high risk patients can be identified and either ideally transferred to a HDU or discharged from ICU when further improvement has been achieved. TIS-28 is a valuable tool in post ICU outcome prediction and subsequently, in hospital mortality reduction. At the same time, through TISS-28 use, each hospital can locally identify the quality of care provided outside the ICU, given the outcomes measured in groups of patients at various severity levels.     

Analysis of the causes for increases in the length of stay in the Recovery Unit of La Paz Maternity Hospital in 2008

ObjectiveTo establish the spectrum of diseases in the obstetric patient that involves an increase in the length of stay in the Recovery Unit of a specialist Maternity Hospital. To analyse the severity of these conditions as regards the means required for their resolu-tion, as well as to identify the factors that influence on post-operative morbidity in the obstetric patient.Material and methodsAll the case histories of all the patients admitted to the Maternity Hospital Recovery Unit during the year 2008 were reviewed. Those who required a lon-ger stay than usual were selected, which included, those with more than 6 hours after a caesarean, and all admissions made during pregnancy, or after dilation and curettage or partum.ResultsOut of a total of 10419 births delivered in 2008, 3000 obstetric patients were ad-mitted to the Maternity Hospital Recovery Unit, of which 285 (9.5%) required critical care. The most frequent cause of increased length of stay was obstetric haemorrhage, followed by hypertensive states of pregnancy. No patients died in this Unit in the year 2008.ConclusionsThe number of patients who had an increased length of stay in the Mater-nity Hospital Recovery Unit is similar to the percentage of patients who are admitted to Intensive Care Units in countries such as Canada or the United Kingdom, but our Unit had a lower death rate in the year evaluated. The main causes are obstetric haemorrhage and hypertensive states of pregnancy, thus patients with risk factors for developing these complications must be observed closely and monitored.     

Bloodless intensive care: a case series and review of Jehovah's Witnesses in ICU

The objective of this study was to assess the outcome of Jehovah's Witness (JW) patients admitted to a major Australasian ICU and to review the literature regarding the management of critically ill Jehovah's Witness patients. All Jehovah's Witness patients admitted to the ICU between January 1999 and September 2003 were identified from a prospective database. Their ICU mortality, APACHE II scores, APACHE II risk of death and ICU length of stay were compared to the general ICU population. Twenty-one (0.24%) out of 8869 patients (excluding re-admissions) admitted to the ICU over this period were Jehovah's Witness patients. Their mean APACHE II score was 14.1 (+/- 7.0), the mean APACHE II risk of death was 21.2% (+/- 16.6), and the mean nadir haemoglobin (Hb) was 80.2 g/l (+/- 36.4). Four out of 21 Jehovah's Witness patients died in ICU compared to 782 out of 8848 non- Jehovah's Witness patients (19.0% vs 8.8%, P = 0.10, chi square). The median ICU length of stay in both groups was two days (P = 0.64, Wilcoxon rank sum). The lowest Hb recorded in a survivor was 23 g/l. Jehovah's Witness patients appear to be an uncommon patient population in a major Australasian ICU but are not over-represented when compared with their prevalence in the community. Despite similar severity of illness scores and predicted mortality to those in the general ICU population, there was a trend towards higher mortality in Jehovah's Witness patients.     

Candidemia in Intensive Care patients. Risk factors and mortality

AIM: Aim of this study was to evaluate if the risk factors for candidemia could be used to identify patients who have a greater possibility of death after Candida spp blood infection. METHODS: A retrospective observational comparative study. SETTING: the Intensive Care Unit of an University Hospital. PATIENTS: 478 critical patients were included in this study. Neutropenic and immuno-suppressed patients were excluded. Interventions: routine care for acutely ill patients, with regard to their pathology. MEASUREMENTS: age, APACHE II at the admission, length of stay in the ICU before the diagnosis of candidemia and whole length of stay, outcome, risk factors for candidemia (Candida colonisation, previous antibiotic therapy, central vein, mechanical ventilation, abdominal surgery, hemodialysis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, malignancy, splenectomy, immunosuppression, total parenteral nutrition, malnutrition) and clinical signs of multiorgan failure, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis or shock, concomitant presence of other infections. RESULTS: Twelve Candida spp blood infections were diagnosed. All the risk factors were homogenously distributed between patients who survived and those who died with the exception of the malnutrition state, associated with a higher mortality rate. CONCLUSION: If the candidemia is present, none of the risk factors for the onset of fungemia considered in this study, but the malnutrition state, are mortality predictors.     

重型颅脑外伤患者术后早期营养支持策略的选择与疗效分析

目的 研究三种不同早期营养支持方案下重型颅脑外伤患者术后营养状况及短期预后的差异.方法 回顾性分析2014年7月-2016年7月苏北人民医院神经外科重症监护室收治的60例重型颅脑外伤术后患者,依据不同营养支持方案分为早期联合营养组、早期肠内营养组和早期肠外营养组.记录三组患者治疗前的基础临床特征、治疗后两周内的营养数据以及神经外科重症监护室住院时间、并发症情况和GCS评分.结果 早期营养支持中,早期联合营养组患者空腹血糖、血清前白蛋白、血清总蛋白、全血血红蛋白、C-反应蛋白分别为(5.74±0.64)mmol/L、(203.80±10.45) mg/L、(61.99±1.34) g/L、(114.53 ± 2.69) g/L、(0.37±0.06) mg/dl,以上数据改善情况均优于早期肠内营养组及早期肠外营养组.早期联合营养组神经外科重症监护室住院时间(11.6±0.42)d明显低于早期肠内营养组(13.20±0.42)d及早期肠外营养组(14.65±0.42)d.早期联合营养组并发症发病率最低.早期联合营养组GCS评分(11.40±1.60)分改善最显著,差异均具有统计学意义(P＜0.05).结论 重型颅脑外伤术后早期施行肠内外联合营养治疗能显著促进患者营养指标提升,同时降低并发症发病率,缩短神经外科重症监护室住院时间,减轻昏迷程度,值得临床推广.     

Advanced age and incidence of atrial fibrillation in the postoperative period of aortic valve replacement

Objective

This study aims to describe the correlation between age and occurrence of atrial fibrillation after aortic stenosis surgery in the elderly as well as evaluate the influence of atrial fibrillation on the incidence of strokes, hospital length of stay, and hospital mortality.

Methods

Cross-sectional retrospective study of > 70 year-old patients who underwent isolated aortic valve replacement.

Results

348 patients were included in the study (mean age 76.8±4.6 years). Overall, post-operative atrial fibrillation was 32.8% (n=114), but it was higher in patients aged 80 years and older (42.9% versus 28.8% in patients aged 70-79 years, P=0.017). There was borderline significance for linear correlation between age and atrial fibrillation (P=0.055). Intensive Care Unit and hospital lengths of stay were significantly increased in atrial fibrillation (P<0.001), but there was no increase in mortality or stroke associated with atrial fibrillation.

Conclusion

Post-operative atrial fibrillation incidence in aortic valve replacement is high and correlates with age in patients aged 70 years and older and significantly more pronounced in patients aged 80 years. There was increased length of stay at Intensive Care Unit and hospital, but there was no increase in mortality or stroke. These data are important for planning prophylaxis and early treatment for this subgroup.     

Readmission to surgical intensive care increases severity-adjusted patient mortality

BACKGROUND: This study aims to determine whether severity-adjusted outcomes including mortality are adversely impacted by readmission to a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) during the same hospital stay. METHODS: The study included all patients admitted to the 20-bed tertiary care SICU in an urban teaching Level I trauma center and multiorgan transplant center from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2001. This was a prospective observational study with secondary data analysis. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) and Simplified Acute Physiology (SAPS) severity scores were calculated by a clinical information system. Outcomes were extracted from a computerized data warehouse. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality and SICU length of stay (LOS) were measured for patients admitted and readmitted to the SICU. Of 10,840 patients admitted to the SICU, 296 (2.73%) required readmission to the SICU during the same hospital stay. The length of the original SICU stay was 4.9 +/- 6.7 days for readmitted patients compared with 3.2 +/- 6.0 days for nonreadmitted patients (p < 0.001). Readmitted patients had a higher mean APACHE II score on the day of original SICU discharge compared with nonreadmitted patients, 15.7 +/- 6.7 versus 13.8 +/- 7.1 (p < 0.001). The average APACHE II score increased from 15.7 +/- 6.7 to 18.1 +/- 8.6 between the day of SICU discharge and readmission (p < 0.001) and SAPS increased from 12.2 +/- 4.8 to 13.5 +/- 5.4 (p < 0.001). The distributions of severity-adjusted hospital mortality for both APACHE II and SAPS revealed that readmission to the SICU significantly increased mortality independent of the admission severity score. CONCLUSIONS: Readmission to the SICU significantly increases the risk of death beyond that predicted by the APACHE II or SAPS scores alone. Higher APACHE II and SAPS scores upon discharge from the SICU and longer SICU LOS are associated with an increased incidence of readmission to the SICU on the same hospital stay. These results may be used to optimize the timing of SICU discharge and reduce the chance of readmission to intensive care.     

Fatores de risco para mortalidade após hemorragia subaracnoidea: estudo observacional retrospectivo

Background and objectivesSubarachnoid haemorrhage is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study was to determine predictors of mortality among patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit.MethodsThis is a retrospective study of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of our institution during a 7 year period (2009–2015). Data were collected from the Intensive Care Unit computerized database and the patients’ chart reviews.ResultsWe included in the study 107 patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. A ruptured aneurysm was the cause of subarachnoid haemorrhage in 76 (71%) patients. The overall mortality was 40% (43 patients), and was significantly associated with septic shock, midline shift on CT scan, inter‐hospital transfer, aspiration pneumonia and hypernatraemia during the first 72 hours of Intensive Care Unit stay. Multivariate analysis of patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage following an aneurysm rupture revealed that mortality was significantly associated with septic shock and hypernatremia during the first 72 hours of Intensive Care Unit stay, while early treatment of aneurysm (clipping or endovascular coiling) within the first 72 hours was identified as a predictor of a good prognosis.ConclusionsTransferred patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage had lower survival rates. Septic shock and hypernatraemia were important complications among critically ill patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage and were associated increased mortality.     

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??Value of early goal-directed therapy for treatment of surgical patients with severe sepsis DAI Hai-wen, ZHANG Zhao-cai, YAN Jing, et al. Department of Intensive Care Unit, Zhejiang Hospital, Hangzhou 310013, China Corresponding author: YAN Jing, E-mail: zjicu@vip.163.com Abstract Objective To investigate the effect of early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) on surgical patient with severe sepsis. Methods One hundred and seventy-seven surgical patients with severe sepsis admitted between August 2004 and June 2007 at 7 hospitals of Grade III Level A in Zhejiang Province were randomized to conventional treatment group (n=90) and EGDT group (n=87), the former was underwent fluid resuscitation goaled by central venous pressure (CVP), mean artery blood pressure (MBP) or systolic blood pressure (SBP) and urinary output, and the latter was guiding by CVP, MBP or SBP and UO plus central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2)??The patients were achieved the goals by treating with fluid, transfusions and cardiac stimulants in a period of 6 hours after enrollment. The difference of 28-day survival (primary endpoint), the length of stay in ICU, mechanical ventilation time, antibiotics utilization time, complication of newly infection and clinical scores (secondary endpoints) between the 2 groups was compared. Results In comparison with conventional group, the 28-day survival of EGDT group was increased by 18% (79.3% vs 61.1%, P=0.023), the APACHE II score and MODS score were significantly improved after 6h of EGDT fluid resuscitation (APACHE II: 21.7±5.9 vs 15.4±4.3, P=0.008; MODS: 8.4±3.3 vs 5.1±2.9, P=0.017), there is no difference in other parameters for secondary endpoint (all P>0.05). Conclusion EGDT improved 28-day survival and clinical scores and had beneficial effects on outcomes in surgical patients with severe sepsis.     

Predicting mortality for critically ill burns patients,using the Abbreviated Burn Severity Index and Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3

Introduction: Reviewing the profile of patients admitted at the Burns Intensive Care Unit at São Paulo Hospital – UNIFESP, as well as the available literature, it becomes evident the need for tools able to predict those patients’ outcomes. Distinct score models are used in different health centers, not only as prognostic models, but also as research and quality control tools. Amongst these prognostic scores, there are two strands, the burns specific scores – which consider the injury's characteristics – and the general critical patient's scores. Objective: This study aims to analyze the differences and tendencies in mortality prediction of two broadly used scores when applied to São Paulo Hospital's Burns Intensive Care Unit patients, ABSI – burns specific score – and SAPS 3 – general score for critical patients. Methods: This is an individual, observational, retrospective and comparative study, developed with medical records review. Both scores were applied to every patient admitted at São Paulo Hospital's Burns Intensive Care Unit from 2011 to 2016. Statistical analyses used the non-parametric test of Kolmogorov-Smirnov, a p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: 122 patients were included, the average age was 34,4 years old. 70,5% of patients were male and 49% had a total body surface area burned of 20%. 27% of the patients died. Statistical analyses do not show significant differences between ABSI and SAPS3 mortality predictions for burns patients at this health center. Conclusion: The study evidences that SAPS 3 score, frequently used at general Intensive Care Units, has a similar performance to ABSI score, which is specific for burns populations. ABSI score is easier to implement, as it is simpler and able to show instant results.