ABSTRACT

We aimed to examine the effect of admission time from emergency department (ED) to intensive care unit (ICU) on mortality, the length of ICU and hospital stays in intoxication patients.

A retrospective medical record review of 129 patients were performed. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on admission time from ED to ICU: group I (≤2 hours) or group II (>2 hours). Patient demographic and clinical data were recorded.

There were 84 female and 45 male patients whose mean age was 30.48±13.57 years. The most common causes of intoxication were tricyclic antidepressants (34.5%), paracetamol (17.4%) and carbon monoxide (11.6%). At the time of ED presentation, 26.8% of patients had a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) 8 or below. The admission time from ED to ICU was ≤2 hours in 44 patients (37.9%) and >2 hours in 85 patients (62.1%). Both groups were comparable in demographics, the causes of intoxication and the time of ED presentation. There were no statistically significant difference between group I (≤2 hours) or group II (>2 hours) according to the time of entubation, the length of ICU and hospital stays and mortality. The only parameter that was found to have a statistically significant effect on mortality was GCS at the time of ED presentation (p<0.05).

In our study, expedited admission to ICU (≤ 2 hours) did not cause any statistically significant difference on outcome in intoxication patients. The only parameter that was found to have a statistically significant effect on mortality was GCS at the time of ED presentation.

Keywords: Intensive care unit, emergency department, intoxication, mortality, morbidity