title: Frequency of Intensive Care Unit admission after elective interventional neuroradiological procedures under general anesthesia in a tertiary care hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after elective interventional neuroradiology (INR) procedures under general anesthesia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively evaluated 121 patients underwent INR procedures performed with general anesthesia within a 5-year period. Information including demographics, aneurysm/arteriovenous malformations pathology (ruptured or un-ruptured), preoperative neurological status, co-morbidities, complications during procedure and postoperative admission in ICU were recorded on a predesigned form.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elective INR procedure for both ruptured (n = 29, 24%) and un-ruptured (n = 85, 70.25%) aneurysms was performed. Rate of postoperative admission in ICU was significantly high in patients with preoperative ruptured aneurysm (P < 0.01). High rate of neurological deficit, sub-arachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and hypertension in patients were significant factors of postoperative admission in ICU (P < 0.05). Out of 24 patients, 12 were admitted to ICU postoperatively because of procedure-related complications and 11 were sent due to preexisting significant co-morbidities with added complication of SAH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors conclude that patients without major co-morbidities, intraoperative complications, or complex aneurysm morphology can be safely observed in a regular ward rather than being admitted to the ICU.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Faisal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shamim
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asghar
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Karima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karam
keywords: General anesthesia; Intensive Care Unit; interventional neuroradiology; sub-arachnoid hemorrhage