title: [Prolonged hospitalization in the intensive care unit: a worthless effort?].
abstract: Hospitalization of a patient in critical care unit for over a month is exceptional and often raises the question of an irreversible disease process. From 2715 consecutive patients admitted to an intensive care unit in the last 4 years we identified 20 patients remaining in the unit for over a month. Acute pancreatitis and septic abortion were the most common diagnosis at admission. Overall mortality in this series was 30%. None of the complications developing or the therapeutic procedures used in the first 3 weeks predicted the outcome. In contrast, the presence of respiratory failure, septic shock, requirement of ventilation or parenteral nutrition at day 30 was highly associated with mortality.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Gustavo Fricke, Viña del Mar, Chile.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vega
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Karlezi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gálvez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010343:Patient Admission; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
vernacular_title: Hospitalización prolongada en la unidad de cuidados intensivos: un esfuerzo perdido?