A case-control study of patients readmitted to the intensive care unit

Characteristics of patients readmitted to intensive care unit: a nested case-control study

“…Previous studies found pulmonary disorder to be the leading cause of readmissions. 1,3,7,15,20,21 The effect of sputum quantity on readmission was likely attributable to insufficient cough effort and retention of secretions by patients. Critically ill patients with neuromuscular complications from severe polyneuropathy and myopathy or deconditioning and weakness were at great risk of sputum retention and nosocomial pneumonia.…”

“…4,7 In the tree analysis of the subgroup readmitted for new complications, postoperative patients with HCTs of ≤0.34 were associated with an increased risk of readmission. The corresponding haemoglobin levels in patients with HCTs of 0.34 ranged between 110 and 120 g/L.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Consistently, readmitted patients had much poorer outcomes, higher hospital mortality, and their length of stay (LOS) in hospital was longer. 1,3,[5][6][7][8][9] Readmissions due to premature ICU discharge are potentially preventable, and may be attributed to deterioration of the primary or existing medical condition. Nevertheless, some readmissions are unavoidable, as there can be occurrence of new complications at any time after initial ICU discharge.…”

“…2,5,12,13 Risk factors have been identified for ICU readmission. 5,7,11,[14][15][16] Readmitted patients tend to be older, and have higher severity scores on initial admission and on discharge. 1,5,8,15,17 Recently, Gajic et al 18 produced a prediction model with acceptable validity.…”

An assessment of the staffing level required for a high‐dependency unit

“…High-dependency units (HDUs) are becoming an increasingly important part of a hospital's facilities, allowing elective surgical work to continue despite rising intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy [1], earlier discharge of patients from the ICU [2] and reducing ICU readmission rates [3]. Provision of HDU care for high-risk medical and surgical patients may also reduce the need for ICU admission and improve patient outcome [4].…”