Articles: intensive-care-units.
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Practice Guideline Guideline
An intensivist's view: who should be admitted to the intensive care unit? Society of critical care.
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Critical care clinics · Jul 1993
ReviewIntensive care units in the triage mode. An organizational perspective.
Decisions to admit and discharge patients to and from the intensive care unit (ICU) when resources are scarce should be made according to the triage principle--that is, resources should be allocated based on the patient's ability to benefit from critical care. The ICU organizational structure and the constraints on decision-making processes are discussed in this article along with strategies for improvement in both areas.
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To investigate the effect of extreme age on outcome from surgical intensive care. ⋯ Nonagenarians do not differ from younger SICU patients in survival from SICU care, although hospital mortality is greater in nonagenarians. Age alone should not be used to make decisions about the utility of SICU care for the elderly. Outcome correlates better with severity of illness, and the measure is valid in young and old alike.