Obstetric Admissions in ICU in a Tertiary Care Center: A 5-Years Retrospective Study

Obstetric patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) represent a challenge to physicians. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incidence, characteristics, and mortality of pregnant and postpartum patients requiring ICU admission.

A retrospective cohort study was performed between January 2008 and December 2013 at the University Hospital Federico II of Naples including pregnant and puerperal women until the 42nd day of postpartum and admitted to ICU.

Patients admitted with an obstetric diagnosis had a higher incidence of at least one previous cesarean section, were treated more with hysterectomy, had an increasing incidence of hemodynamic instability, had more postpartum admission, had a higher TISS-28 score, and required more endotracheal intubation than patients admitted with non-obstetrics diagnosis.

A shared approach including a close collaboration between ICU and obstetric ward may be useful to reduce ICU admission and to improve maternal and foetal outcomes.

Vargas M, Marra A, Buonanno P, Iacovazzo C, Schiavone V, Servillo G. Obstetric Admissions in ICU in a Tertiary Care Center. A 5-years Retrospective Study. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(5):213-219.