The Groote Schuur Hospital Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit: A 2 Year Experience

Background: At Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH), the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit (NsICU) is a 6-bed unit headed by a specialist neurosurgeon with extensive experience in Neuro-Critical Care working in close collaboration with intensivists from the Division of Critical Care. There is currently no detailed analysis of the demographics, diagnosis and management of patients admitted to the NsICU at GSH. Objectives: To provide a detailed descriptive analysis of the demographics, diagnosis and management of patients admitted to the NsICU at GSH from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021. Methods: A retrospective descriptive analysis of patients who received treatment in the NsICU from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021. Results: A total of 685 patients were admitted to the unit over a two-year period with a male preponderance (68.2%). The average age was 42.5 (±17.2) years. The most common neurosurgical diagnoses were traumatic brain injuries (39.6%), brain tumours (22.6%) and aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhages (9.9%). Emergency admissions comprised 76.6% of the total and 86.7% of admissions were admitted post operatively. Three hundred and seventytwo patients required mechanical ventilation (54.3%), 132 patients required both an intracranial pressure monitor (ICP) and brain tissue oxygenation monitor (19.3%), 86 had an external ventricular drain placed (12.5%), 50 patients required placement of a tracheostomy (7.3%) and 16 patients had only an ICP monitor placed (2.3%). The average duration of stay was 5.5 (±1.3) days and ICU mortality over 2 years was 11.1%. Conclusion: The NsICU at GSH manages predominantly male trauma patients and a significant number of admitted patients require specialized invasive intracranial monitoring.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Division of General Surgery

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Rashid, Sakina

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Semple, Patrick
• Joubert Ivan

• Medicine

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41371

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41371