Long-term survival and quality of life in cardiac surgical patients with prolonged intensive care unit length of stay

Are there accurate predictors of long-term vital and functional outcomes in cardiac surgical patients requiring prolonged intensive care?

“…On the other hand, two recent studies [20,21] have concluded that outcome predictions based on organ dysfunction scores are not reliable during the first 14 days following cardiac surgery. Unfortunately, this delay makes decisions of treatment limitation much too late to substantially reduce the amount of unnecessary patient suffering and waste of medical resources.…”

Quality of Life in Relation to Length of Intensive Care Unit Stay After Cardiac Surgery

“…Therefore, if already not predefined by an author, any study on QOL after cardiac surgery with length of ICU stay >24 hours [8][9][10] was included. Only studies for which patients were followed up for at least 3 months post-ICU discharge were included.…”

“…7 There has been considerable debate on the definition of prolonged ICU stay after cardiac surgery, ranging widely from >24 hours to >14 days. [8][9][10] The incidence of prolonged ICU stay after cardiac surgery varies from 4% to 11%, depending on its definition. Some estimate that up to 36% of patients who undergo cardiac surgery experience a prolonged ICU stay.…”

Risk Model of Prolonged Intensive Care Unit Stay in Chinese Patients Undergoing Heart Valve Surgery

“…Intensive care is a standard component of postoperative treatment for most patients who undergo cardiac surgery. However, PrlICULOS is often associated with increased in-hospital mortality and morbidity, poor long-term survival, and prolonged length of hospitalisation resulting in increased costs [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Therefore if the patients who require PrlICU-LOS could be predicted preoperatively, it could be helpful for allocate adequate health resources and may lead to the developments of preventive strategies.…”

“…Prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), or PrlICULOS, following cardiacvascular surgery is a source of great expense to the health care system [3]. Evidence has suggested that PrlICULOS can induce negative effects on short and long-term survival, functional capacity and health related quality of life [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Therefore, if the patients who require PrlICULOS could be predicted preoperatively, it could be helpful for allocating adequate health resources and may lead to the developments of the planned intervention and preventive strategies.…”