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Intentional drug overdose: predictors of clinical course in the intensive care unit
E N Heyman1, D E LoCastro, L H Gouse
1Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
Objective:
To examine the characteristics of patients admitted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) after intentional drug overdose.
Design:
Retrospective chart review, descriptive.
Setting:
Midwestern teaching hospital.
Subjects:
Convenience sample of 43 patients admitted to the MICU after intentional drug overdose.
Outcome Measures:
Survival and disposition of those patients who survived and were discharged from the MICU.
Results:
Ninety-five percent of the patients survived and were discharged from the MICU; Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores ranged from 1 to 29 (mean, 8); Glascow Coma Scale scores ranged from 3 to 15 (mean 12.5); five patients were intubated and two patients had serious electrocardiograph changes requiring pharmacologic intervention for dysrhythmia.
Conclusions:
Neurologic findings were the best indicators of serious complications after drug overdose. THerefore, patients with a Glascow Coma Scale score of more than six, and who are not intubated, may not need admission to an intensive care unit.