PROLONGED STAYS OF OB GYN PATIENTS IN THE SURGICAL INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT - A COST-BENEFIT-ANALYSIS/

OBJECTIVE: To delineate costs between various obstetric and gynecologi c (OB/GYN) patients with stays in the surgical intensive care unit (SI CU). STUDY DESIGN: A chart review identified 86 OB/GYN patients who ha d a minimum SICU stay of three days between January 1987 and May 1992. RESULTS: Our study showed that the total cost of these cases was $3,3 44,010, with a median of $29,780 (range, $20,230-180,610) and that the difference between patients with malignancies and those without (medi an, $20,340) was not statistically significant (P = .11). However, cas es of malignant disease that had either a preexisting medical conditio n or an SICU stay of more than five days cost more than any other case s (P=.038). The SICU share of total hospital cost ranged from 20.7% in patients with malignancy to 40% in patients without malignancy. CONCL USION: As health care costs come under closer scrutiny, the critically ill patient should not be placed at risk of lessened chances of survi val because perceived savings result in decreasing quality of care.