title: Effect of reduction of postoperative days in the intensive care unit after coronary artery bypass.
abstract: The high cost of medical care prompted us closely to evaluate our practice of keeping all coronary artery bypass patients in the postoperative intensive care unit a minimum of 2 days. Thirty-seven patients were randomly assigned to a 1 or 2 day postoperative stay in the intensive care unit after routine bypass grafting. Nineteen patients in Group I stayed 1 day and 18 in Group II stayed 2 days. Eighteen Group I and 17 Group II patients were evaluated. No differences in type or rate of complications occurred in either group. No deaths occurred. Total hospital costs were $340 less for Group I (not statistically significant, p greater than 0.4), room costs were $361 less for Group I (p less than 0.01), total laboratory costs were $165 less for Group I (p greater than 0.5), and costs for arterial blood gases were $325 less for Group I (p less than 0.001). No adverse effect on patient safety was found by reducing the stay in the intensive care unit from 2 days to 1 day. This and other economies can significantly reduce hospital costs for this group of patients.
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000191:economics*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011184:Postoperative Period