Dying in the Intensive Care Unit. 2019

Francisco Del Olmo, and Yomayra Otero, and Juan Flores, and Jesse Aleman, and William Rodríguez-Cintrón
VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

To document (using available data) the profile of the patients seen by the hospital's palliative service (PS) and who died in the medicine intensive care unit (ICU) of the Veterans Affairs Caribbean Healthcare System. A record review of subjects who died in the ICU from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014. Demographic data, underlying comorbidities, the cause of death, the length of stay, evaluation made by the PS, and the withdrawal of life support (when such occurred) were recorded for each patient. A total of 200 patients met the criteria, mostly males. All the women and 50% of the men were over 79 years old. Seventy three percent of the patients were on mechanical ventilation when admitted, most having come from the emergency department. Fewer than 15% had advance directives. Forty-nine percent had been admitted to a hospital facility at least once during the year prior to their current admission. Most of the patients (60.5%) died within the first week, while 13% died within the first 24 hours. PS was requested for 56% of those who survived more than 24 hours, of which only 10% underwent the withdrawal-of-care protocol. A small percentage of the patients who died in the ICU had advance directives at the time of admission, this though all were of advanced age, had recently been discharged after a prior hospital stay, suffered from 1 or more chronic illnesses, or had a history of mental or physical disease. Our findings underscore the need for the early referral of patients of the type previously mentioned to a PS.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007362 Intensive Care Units Hospital units providing continuous surveillance and care to acutely ill patients. ICU Intensive Care Units,Intensive Care Unit,Unit, Intensive Care
D007902 Length of Stay The period of confinement of a patient to a hospital or other health facility. Hospital Stay,Hospital Stays,Stay Length,Stay Lengths,Stay, Hospital,Stays, Hospital
D008297 Male Males
D010166 Palliative Care Care alleviating symptoms without curing the underlying disease. (Stedman, 25th ed) Palliative Treatment,Palliative Supportive Care,Palliative Surgery,Palliative Therapy,Surgery, Palliative,Therapy, Palliative,Care, Palliative,Palliative Treatments,Supportive Care, Palliative,Treatment, Palliative,Treatments, Palliative
D012121 Respiration, Artificial Any method of artificial breathing that employs mechanical or non-mechanical means to force the air into and out of the lungs. Artificial respiration or ventilation is used in individuals who have stopped breathing or have RESPIRATORY INSUFFICIENCY to increase their intake of oxygen (O2) and excretion of carbon dioxide (CO2). Ventilation, Mechanical,Mechanical Ventilation,Artificial Respiration,Artificial Respirations,Mechanical Ventilations,Respirations, Artificial,Ventilations, Mechanical
D003643 Death Irreversible cessation of all bodily functions, manifested by absence of spontaneous breathing and total loss of cardiovascular and cerebral functions. End Of Life,End-Of-Life,Near-Death Experience,Cardiac Death,Determination of Death,Death, Cardiac
D004636 Emergency Service, Hospital Hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of immediate medical or surgical care to the emergency patient. Emergency Outpatient Unit,Emergency Services Utilization,Hospital Emergency Room,Hospital Emergency Service,Hospital Emergency Services Utilization,Accident and Emergency Department,Emergency Departments,Emergency Hospital Service,Emergency Room,Emergency Units,Emergency Ward,Hospital Service Emergency,Service, Hospital Emergency,Department, Emergency,Departments, Emergency,Emergencies, Hospital Service,Emergency Department,Emergency Hospital Services,Emergency Outpatient Units,Emergency Room, Hospital,Emergency Rooms,Emergency Rooms, Hospital,Emergency Services, Hospital,Emergency Unit,Emergency Wards,Emergency, Hospital Service,Hospital Emergency Rooms,Hospital Emergency Services,Hospital Service Emergencies,Hospital Service, Emergency,Hospital Services, Emergency,Outpatient Unit, Emergency,Outpatient Units, Emergency,Room, Emergency,Room, Hospital Emergency,Rooms, Emergency,Rooms, Hospital Emergency,Service Emergencies, Hospital,Service Emergency, Hospital,Service, Emergency Hospital,Services Utilization, Emergency,Services Utilizations, Emergency,Services, Emergency Hospital,Services, Hospital Emergency,Unit, Emergency,Unit, Emergency Outpatient,Units, Emergency,Units, Emergency Outpatient,Utilization, Emergency Services,Ward, Emergency,Wards, Emergency
D005260 Female Females
D006760 Hospitalization The confinement of a patient in a hospital. Hospitalizations
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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