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Singh M, Maharaj R, Allorto N, Wise R. Profile of referrals to an intensive care unit from a regional hospital emergency centre in KwaZulu-Natal. Afr J Emerg Med 2021; 11:471-476. [PMID: 34804783 PMCID: PMC8581501 DOI: 10.1016/j.afjem.2021.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction The objective was to describe the clinical characteristics, disease profile and outcome of patients referred from a regional hospital Emergency Centre (EC) to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods A retrospective review was performed using data extracted from the Integrated Critical Care Electronic Database (iCED). Data were extracted from the database with respect to patient characteristics, Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) grading, and outcome of the ICU referral. Modified early warning scores (MEWS) were calculated from EC referral data. Results There were a total of 2187 referrals. Of these, 56.3% (1231/2187) were male. The mean age of referrals was 36 years. Of the referred patients, 41.5% (907/2187) were initially accepted for admission. A further 378 patients were accepted for admission after a follow up ICU review. Medical conditions accounted for the majority of patient referrals, followed by general surgery and trauma. Most patients initially accepted to ICU were classified as SCCM I and II and had a mean MEWS of 4. Almost half of the patients experienced a delay in admission, most commonly due to a lack of ICU bed availability. ICU mortality was 13.6% for patients admitted from the EC. Discussion The EC population referred to the ICU was young with a high burden of medical and trauma conditions. Decisions to accept patients to ICU are limited by available resources, and there was a need to apply ICU triage criteria. Delays in the transfer of ICU patients from the EC increase the workload and contribute to EC crowding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mika Singh
- Division of Emergency Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Corresponding author.
| | - Roshen Maharaj
- Division of Emergency Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Livingstone Tertiary Hospital, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Nikki Allorto
- Pietermaritzburg Burn Service, Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Department of Surgery, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
| | - Robert Wise
- Discipline of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, School of Clinical Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Adult Intensive Care Department, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Chang JCY, Yang C, Lai LL, Huang HH, Fan JS, Lin MH, Hsu TF, Yen DHT. Differences in end-of-life care and outcomes in palliative consultation-eligible patients with and without do-not-resuscitate orders: A propensity score-matched study. J Chin Med Assoc 2021; 84:633-639. [PMID: 33871389 DOI: 10.1097/jcma.0000000000000531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The primary objective of palliative care, not synonymous with end-of-life (EOL) care, is to align care plans with patient goals, regardless of whether these goals include the pursuit of invasive, life-sustaining procedures, or not. This study determines the differences in EOL care, resource utilization, and outcome in palliative care consultation-eligible emergency department patients with and without do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders. METHODS This is a retrospective observational study. We consecutively enrolled all the acutely and critically ill emergency department patients eligible for palliative care consultation at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, a 3000-bed tertiary hospital, from February 1 to July 31, 2018. The outcome measures included in-hospital mortality and EOL care of patients with and without DNR. RESULTS A total of 396 patients were included: 159 with and 237 without DNR. Propensity score matching revealed that patients with DNR had significantly shorter duration of hospital stay (404.4 ± 344.4 hours vs 505.2 ± 498.1 hours; p = 0.037), higher in-hospital mortality (54.1% vs 34.6%; p < 0.001), and lower total hospital expenditure (191 239 ± 177 962 NTD vs 249 194 ± 305 629 NTD; p = 0.04). Among patients with DNR, there were fewer deaths in the intensive care unit (30.2% vs 37.0%), more deaths in the hospice ward (16.3% vs 7.4%), more critical discharge to home (9.3% vs 7.4%), more endotracheal removals (3.1% vs 0%; p = 0.024), and more narcotics use (32.7% vs 22.1%; p = 0.018). CONCLUSION The palliative care consultation-eligible emergency department patients with DNR compared with those without DNR experienced worse outcomes, greater pain control, more endotracheal extubations, shorter duration of hospital stay, more critical discharge to home, more hospice referrals, and 23.3% reduction in total expenditure. There were fewer deaths in the ICU among them as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Chia-Yu Chang
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Che Yang
- Department of Nursing, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Li-Ling Lai
- Department of Nursing, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Hsien-Hao Huang
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Ju-Sing Fan
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Ming-Hwai Lin
- Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Teh-Fu Hsu
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - David Hung-Tsang Yen
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Department of Emergency Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Yuanpei University of Medical Technology, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC
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Differences in Characteristics, Hospital Care and Outcomes between Acute Critically Ill Emergency Department Patients with Early and Late Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18031028. [PMID: 33503811 PMCID: PMC7908360 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18031028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2020] [Revised: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Background: A do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order is associated with an increased risk of death among emergency department (ED) patients. Little is known about patient characteristics, hospital care, and outcomes associated with the timing of the DNR order. Aim: Determine patient characteristics, hospital care, survival, and resource utilization between patients with early DNR (EDNR: signed within 24 h of ED presentation) and late DNR orders. Design: Retrospective observational study. Setting/Participants: We enrolled consecutive, acute, critically ill patients admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (EICU) at Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 1 February 2018, to 31 January 2020. Results: Of the 1064 patients admitted to the EICU, 619 (58.2%) had EDNR and 445 (41.8%) LDNR. EDNR predictors were age >85 years (adjusted odd ratios (AOR) 1.700, 1.027–2.814), living in long-term care facilities (AOR 1.880, 1.066–3.319), having advanced cardiovascular diseases (AOR 2.128, 1.039–4.358), “medical staff would not be surprised if the patient died within 12 months” (AOR 1.725, 1.193–2.496), and patients’ family requesting palliative care (AOR 2.420, 1.187–4.935). EDNR patients underwent lesser endotracheal tube (ET) intubation (15.6% vs. 39.9%, p < 0.001) and had reduced epinephrine injection (19.9% vs. 30.3%, p = 0.009), ventilator support (16.7% vs. 37.9%, p < 0.001), and narcotic use (51.1% vs. 62.6%, p = 0.012). EDNR patients had significantly lower 7-day (p < 0.001), 30-day (p < 0.001), and 90-day (p = 0.023) survival. Conclusions: EDNR patients underwent decreased ET intubation and had reduced epinephrine injection, ventilator support, and narcotic use during EOL as well as decreased length of hospital stay, hospital expenditure, and survival compared to LDNR patients.
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Yang C, Yang TT, Tsou YJ, Lin MH, Fan JS, Huang HH, Tsai MC, Yen DHT. Initiating palliative care consultation for acute critically ill patients in the emergency department intensive care unit. J Chin Med Assoc 2020; 83:500-506. [PMID: 32168079 DOI: 10.1097/jcma.0000000000000297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Little is known about the characteristics of patients needing palliative care consultation in the emergency department (ED). This study aimed to investigate the impacts of initiating screening in acute critically ill patients needing palliative care on mortality, health care resources, and end-of-life (EOL) care in the intensive care unit in ED (EICU). METHODS We conducted an analysis study in Taipei Veterans General Hospital. From February 1 to July 31, 2018, acute critically ill patients in EICU were recruited. The primary outcomes were inhospital mortality and EOL care. The secondary outcomes included clinical characteristics and health care utilization. RESULTS A total of 796 patients were screened, with 396 eligible and 400 noneligible patients needing palliative care consultations. The mean age was 74.8 ± 17.1 years, and 62.6% of the patients were male. According to logistic regression analysis, clinical predictors, including age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.028; 95% CI, 1.015-1.042), respiratory distress and/or respiratory failure (AOR, 2.670; 95% CI, 1.829-3.897), the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (AOR, 1.036; 95% CI, 1.009-1.064), Charlson Comorbidity Index score (AOR, 1.212; 95% CI, 1.125-1.306), and Glasgow Coma Scale (AOR, 0.843; 95% CI, 0.802-0.885), were statistically more significant in eligible patients than in noneligible patients. The inhospital mortality rate was significantly higher in eligible patients than that in noneligible patients (40.7% vs 11.5%, p < 0.01). Eligible patients have a higher ratio in both vasopressor and narcotic use and withdrawal of endotracheal tube than noneligible patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our study results demonstrated that initiating palliative consultation for acute critically ill patients in ED had an impact on the utilization of health care resources and quality of EOL care. Further assessments of the viewpoints of ED patients and their family on palliative care consultations and hospice care are required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Che Yang
- Department of Nursing, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Tsu-Te Yang
- Department of Emergency Department, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Yu-Ju Tsou
- Department of Nursing, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Ming-Hui Lin
- Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Ju-Sing Fan
- Department of Emergency Department, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Hsien-Hao Huang
- Department of Emergency Department, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Ming-Che Tsai
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC
| | - David Hung-Tsang Yen
- Department of Emergency Department, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC
- Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
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