Article Sidebar
Published:
Apr 25, 2016Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
In-hospital outcome of patients discharged from the ICU with tracheostomies
Abstract
Objective. To document the outcome of patients discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) with tracheostomies.
Design and setting. This was a retrospective study conducted in the ICU of Dr George Mukhari Hospital, Pretoria.
Patients. All patients discharged from the ICU with tracheostomies over a period of 1 year from 1 January to 31 December 2003.
Interventions. None.
Measurements. The main variables studied were post-ICU mortality and length of hospital stay, the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) at discharge from ICU and the multiple organ dysfunction score on the day of discharge from the ICU.
Main results. Forty-seven patients were discharged with tracheostomies during the study period. The post-ICU mortality was 57%. The mortality of patients discharged with a GCS below 8 was statistically higher than that of patients discharged with a GCS above 8 (79% v. 22%, p = 0.0002). Survivors had significantly longer duration of hospitalisation (26.95 ± 21.47 days v. 13.48 ± 14.24 days, p = 0.021) than non-survivors. The mortality rate was higher if the tracheostomy was performed for a low GCS than when
it was performed for reasons other than a low GCS (p = 0.0001). The 20 surviving patients were decanulated before discharge from hospital.
Conclusion. The outcome of patients discharged from the ICU with tracheostomies is, on the whole, unfavourable compared with predicted mortality. A GCS of less than 8 is a good predictor of poor outcome.
