Anaesthesia
-
Multicenter Study Observational Study
Factors associated with time to defecate and outcomes in critically ill patients: a prospective, multicentre, observational study.
Delayed defecation is common in patients on intensive care. We aimed to determine factors associated with time to defecation after admission to intensive care and in turn its association with length of stay and mortality. ⋯ Defecation was independently associated with five factors, hazard ratio (95%CI), higher values indicating more rapid defecation: alcoholism, 1.32 (1.05-1.66), p = 0.02; laxatives before admission, 2.35 (1.79-3.07), p < 0.001; non-invasive ventilation, 0.54 (0.36-0.82), p = 0.004; duration of ventilation, 0.78 (0.74-0.82), p < 0.001; laxatives after admission, 1.67 (1.23-2.26), p < 0.001; and enteral nutrition within 48 h of admission, 1.43 (1.07-1.90), p = 0.01. Delayed defecation was associated with prolonged intensive care stay but not mortality.