Evaluation of Obstetric Patients Who Were Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate all obstetric patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). Materials and Methods: Ninety-four obstetric patients were evaluated for age, mortality, preexisting disorders, the reason for admission, interventions performed during ICU stay, and the source of admission. Results: The mean age was 29.1 +/- 5.5 years and the mean APACHE II score was 13.2 +/- 4.8. Most common reasons for intensive care admission were eclampsia (26%) and hemorrhage (20%). In 23 cases, there was at least one preexisting medical disorder and the most common disorder was valvular heart disease. The incidences of central venous catheterization, arterial cannulation, and hemodialysis were 39.4%, 79.8%, and 11.7%, respectively. Of the patients, 2 were admitted from the emergency room, 3 were from the ward, 55 were from operation room, and 34 patients were transferred from other hospitals. The mean length of stay in ICU was 4.7 +/- 7.1 days in patients transferred from another hospital, whereas it was 1.9 +/- 2.8 days in the patients admitted from other departments of our hospital (p<0.05). Similarly, the mean length of mechanical ventilation was 8.8 +/- 10.0 and 4.1 +/- 4.4 days, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: Eclampsia and hemorrhage were the most common causes for ICU admission and mortality rate was 5.2%. In addition, the transfer from one center to another was a risk factor for maternal mortality and morbidity due to the delayed management of obstetric patients.