Vascular surgery patients in intensive care: a bi-national cohort study over 15 years

To describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to Intensive Care following vascular surgery, and their subsequent usage of Intensive Care resources, over a 15-year period in Australia and New Zealand.

This was a retrospective, bi-national study of 69 676 adult patients admitted to 179 Intensive Care Unit (ICUs) following vascular surgery between January 2005 and December 2019, using the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database.

The proportion of ICU bed days used by vascular surgery patients decreased during the study period from 3.6% in 2005 to 2.9% in 2019 (P < 0.001). The cohort had a median age of 73 years, and were most frequently admitted after a carotid endarterectomy (22%) or elective open aneurysm repair (20%). A total of 5.2% of patients did not survive to discharge. Mean annual adjusted mortality decreased during the study period from 6.1% in 2005 to 3.7% in 2019 (P < 0.001). Multiple factors were associated with higher mortality, including gender, hospital case volume and hospital type.

Between 2005 and 2019 survival for vascular surgery patients requiring ICU admission in Australia and New Zealand improved. During the same time the proportion of ICU bed days used by these patients decreased.