Clinical profile and outcomes of obstetric patients requiring intensive care: An audit of patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Although required infrequently, intensive care for obstetric patients is challenging due to its un-predictive nature, knowing the etiology and consequent therapeutic management of such patients is very important for obstetricians and intensivists to improve the quality of care related to such conditions. The objective of this study was to study the spectrum of disease, required interventions and outcome of the obstetric patients admitted to Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) of King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this retrospective study, the medical records of obstetric patients admitted to SICU over a period of 5 years (January 2011 to December 2015) were reviewed. Of the 18,695 obstetric patients, only 50 (0.267%) required SICU admission. Two (4%) patients were admitted from the emergency, 28 (56%) from obstetric ward, 20 (40%) from labor room. Comorbid conditions were present in 20 (40%) patients. The commonest cause for SICU admission was obstetric hemorrhage (54%) followed by hypertension (16%) and pulmonary embolism (8%). Cesarean section was performed in 34 (68%) patients. There was no mortality. Mean lengths of stay in SICU and hospital were 3.08±3.99 (range: 1-25) and 12.7±12.6 (range: 3-90) days, respectively. A very low SICU admission rate with no mortality among our obstetric patients could be related to good antenatal care, early admissions of patients and employing a multidisciplinary approach.