A Review of Admission Pattern in Intensive Care Unit in a Tertiary Health Institution in Southeast Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Intensive monitoring and therapy are critical in the optimum care of very ill patients. Specialist intensive care unit (ICU) appears to be associated with improved care. With the dwindling supply of resources, prioritising the available resources in the ICU based on the local needs driven by available data is imperative. Unfortunately, these data are scarce for the hospital. Objectives: We present the pattern of admission and outcome of patients' management in a general open ICU in this public tertiary health institution in Southeastern Nigeria
Materials and method: The intensive care unit records of the patients admitted into Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital between January 2016 and 2020 were retrieved. Demographic data, diagnosis, duration of stay in ICU, managing units, and outcome were collected and analysed. The outcome was based on transfer to the ward or morgue. The data was analysed with descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 523 patients were included in this study. The male female ratio was 1.5:1. The mean age was 43.3years. Trauma related cases accounted for 39.4% (206/523) of the total admission. Neurosurgery unit had the highest number of admissions 46.1% (241/523), with neurotrauma accounting for 78.4% (189/241) of neurosurgical ICU admissions. Average length of stay was 7 days. Among the patients whose outcome were stated (500), the overall mortality rate was 39.4% (197/500). Among the Neurosurgery cases, mortality was 45.2% (109/241). Conclusion: Trauma related cases are the major reasons for the ICU admission. Neurosurgery unit has the highest cases admitted into the ICU.