Timing for Intensive Care, Neurological Diseases and Palliative Care

Introduction: Patients with neurological diseases may require intensive care support as a result of respiratory failure due to various reasons. Some of them benefit from intensive care supportive treatment while others continue to live as caregivers or need rehabilitation programs. It is important for the rational use of intensive care beds that the routing process to the palliative care, rehabilitation centers or discharge of patients with prolonged treatment in the intensive care unit should be managed well

Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the data of our patients who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of primary neurological diseases in the intensive care unit and terminated with exitus or referred to home / palliative care between January 2017 and May 2018 with the permission (17073117-050.06 decision no) of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX scientific studies committee. Patients who transferred to other clinics were excluded from the study. APACHE II/SAPS II scores, hospitalization day, mechanical ventilation time, tracheostomy and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy requirement, home ventilator supply and the situation of discharge from intensive care unit of patients were recorded

Results: A total of 942 patient files were reviewed retrospectively and 74 (7.8%) of our patients were neurological patients who were died or discharged to directly home\palliative care. Most of the patients in the study had severe dementia (30 patients, 40.5%) and fewer number of patients had ischemic stroke (21 patients, 28.3%). Sixty of the 74 patients (81.1%) died in the intensive care unit. Only 5 patients were transferred to palliative care (6.8%).

Conclusion: Increasing transfer from intensive care to palliative care is important for the effective use of intensive care beds. Therefore, it is suggested that intensive care patients should be evaluated periodically to be directed to palliative care