Critically Ill Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department; Outcome Review in a Tertiary Care Center

Critically ill patients presenting to the emergency department require prompt recognition and prioritized care due to the severity of their conditions. Reviewing their clinical outcomes helps guide future planning and resource allocation. This study aims to highlight the outcomes of patients triaged as CTAS I and II in the emergency department of a tertiary care center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

A single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted in the emergency department of a tertiary healthcare center, National Guard Health Affairs, in Jeddah. The study provides a comprehensive assessment of factors (including length of stay) and outcomes for a total of 505 critically ill patients (CTAS Levels I and II) who presented to the emergency department from January 2023 to December 2023.

A total of 505 patients were included in this study, out of which 325 (64.4%) were males. The most reported co-morbidities were diabetes mellitus 169 (33.5%) and Hypertension 173 (34.3%). The majority of 435 patients (86.1%) were CTAS level 2, while 70 (13.9%) were CTAS 1. The mean ED length of stay was 5.5 hours.347 out of 505 patients required hospitalization (68.7%), and the mean of hospitalization by days was 13 (±23.5%). 8.5% of these patients died of which14.3%were CTAS 1, and 7.6% were CTAS2.

As demonstrated above, most critical ED cases were comprised of males; this trend may be attributed to higher health risks among them. Furthermore, most critical ED visits were related to cardiac issues, with shortness of breath being the most reported symptom. The mortality rate for these ED patients was 8.5%. Additionally, the average length of stay (LOS) in ED was 5.5 hours. Other studies have demonstrated that this is associated with a lower mortality rate compared to others with longer LOS.