• T K Timmers, M H J Verhofstad, K G M Moons, and L P H Leenen.
• Department of Surgery, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands. tk.timmers@gmail.com
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2012 Nov 1;21(6):e120-8.

BackgroundReadmission within 48 hours is a leading performance indicator of the quality of care in an intensive care unit.ObjectiveTo investigate variables that might be associated with readmission to a surgical intensive care unit.MethodsDemographic characteristics, severity-of-illness scores, and survival rates were collected for all patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit between 1995 and 2000. Long-term survival and quality of life were determined for patients who were readmitted within 30 days after discharge from the unit. Quality of life was measured with the EuroQol-6D questionnaire. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to calculate the independent association of expected covariates.ResultsMean follow-up time was 8 years. Of the 1682 patients alive at discharge, 141 (8%) were readmitted. The main causes of readmission were respiratory decompensation (48%) and cardiac conditions (16%). Compared with the total sample, patients readmitted were older, mostly had vascular (39%) or gastrointestinal (26%) disease, and had significantly higher initial severity of illness (P = .003, .007) and significantly more comorbid conditions (P = .005). For all surgical classifications except general surgery, readmission was independently associated with type of admission and need for mechanical ventilation. Long-term mortality was higher among patients who were readmitted than among the total sample. Nevertheless, quality-of-life scores were the same for patients who were readmitted and patients who were not.ConclusionThe adverse effect of readmission to the intensive care unit on survival appears to be long-lasting, and predictors of readmission are scarce.

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